Australia calls for international investigation into COVID-19 spread

Foreign Minister Marise Payne is pushing for an independent global inquiry into the origins of COVID-19. The Australian government wants the inquiry to look at how China handled the initial outbreak in Wuhan and the role of the World Health Organisation in handling the pandemic. It comes amid intense global scrutiny of the WHO and its management of the crisis. Senator Payne on Sunday said any investigation should be conducted independently of the health body. "Well, we need to know the sorts of details that an independent review would identify for us about the genesis of the virus, about the approaches to dealing with it and addressing it," she told ABC television. "I think it is about an independent mechanism, and I’m not sure that you can have the health organisation which has been responsible for disseminating much of the international communications material, and doing much of the early engagement and investigative work, also as the review mechanism." Via news.com.au — Australia’s #1 news site https://www.news.com.au