More transparency from China on COVID-19 better for all: Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday (April 20) urged China to be as transparent as possible about the coronavirus outbreak, as debate swirls about how the deadly pandemic started.

“I believe the more transparent China is about the origin story of the virus, the better it is for everyone in the world in order to learn from it,” she told reporters in Berlin.

The statement comes in the backdrop of critics accusing China of not revealing about the highly contagious coronavirus and its scope of destruction in totality.

Related news: China should face consequences if responsible for COVID-19 spread: Trump

The novel coronavirus that first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei province has gathered several conspiracy theories in the United States of America with President Donald Trump even claiming that the COVID-19 could have originated from a lab in the Dragon nation.

However, Chinese scientists and researchers have already conveyed that the virus could’ve been transmitted to humans at a wet market in the city.

Related news: Examining reports that claim coronavirus escaped from Wuhan lab, says Trump

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that an investigation was underway to understand how the coronavirus “got out into the world,” adding that it could have leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

However, the scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology have strongly rejected the claims, calling it “impossible.”