Cooperate over origins of Covid-19 or face international isolation: US tells China

A woman receives the China National Biotec Group (CNBG) Covid-19 vaccine in Hangzhou on Sunday. Pic/AFP

China will face ‘isolation in the international community' if Beijing does not cooperate with a further probe into the origin of the coronavirus pandemic, said US national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday.In an interview with Fox News, Sullivan praised President Biden for inducing his fellow G-7 leaders to put pressure on China to allow a transparent investigation of the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"What Joe Biden did in Europe this week was rally the democratic world to speak with a common voice on this issue for the first time since Covid broke out. President Trump wasn't able to do it. President Biden was. He got the G7 to endorse a statement saying in unison that China must allow an investigation to proceed within its territory," Sullivan said.

"It is that diplomatic spadework - rallying the nations of the world, imposing political and diplomatic pressure on China, that is a core part of the effort we are undertaking to ultimately face China with a stark choice: Either they will allow, in a responsible way, investigators in to do the real work of figuring out where this came from, or they will face isolation in the international community," he added. He further said that the US will not rely solely on China and indicated that America will use the efforts of its intelligence community and allies to press the matter on every front until a result is found.

US to share 55 mn doses globally

The United States on Monday announced plans to allocate 55 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to the world, including 16 mn to nations such as India and Bangladesh. The Biden-Harris Administration has so far announced distribution of 80 mn doses of the US's own vaccine supply which President Joe Biden had pledged to allocate by the end of June in service of ending the pandemic globally.

Indonesia records its largest 1-day jump

Indonesian health authorities announced the country's largest one-day jump in new coronavirus infections on Monday, as the country's number of confirmed cases since the pandemic began crossed 2 million. The Health Ministry said it had confirmed another 14,536 new infections and 294 deaths. Along with the more than 2 million infections, Indonesia has reported more than 54,950 deaths, both the most in Southeast Asia.

Over 90 Indian factory workers test positive

Over 90 Indian workers at an iron works factory in Sri Lanka tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday, health officials said. The Indians were among around 120 workers at the factory in Colombo north suburb of Wattala who were found to have contracted the virus. They are in quarantine. Mahendra Balasuriya, the Public Health Inspectors Union Secretary, said some 192 employees underwent PCR tests on Sunday and majority were Indian workers.

Also Read: Covid-19: In a first in second wave, Mumbai records TPR of under 2 per cent

2,54,131
No. of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours

17,81,18,597
Total no. of cases worldwide

38,64,180
Total no. of deaths worldwide

Source: WHO/Johns Hopkins

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