Germany calls on China to allow further investigations into COVID origins

FILE PHOTO: A view of Huanan seafood market, and where coronavirus believed to have first surfaced, almost a year after the start of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China December 8, 2020. Picture taken December 8, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song

German Health Minister Jens Spahn called on China to make it possible for investigations into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic to continue, saying more information was needed.

Speaking during a visit to the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva on Thursday, Spahn also announced a 260 million euro ($307 million) donation to WHO's ACT-Accelerator programme, which aims to ensure the entire world, including poorer countries, receive coronavirus vaccines and tests.

"I call on China to make it possible for the investigations into the origins of COVID to be continued," he said.

($1 = 0.8465 euros)

(Reporting by Thomas Escritt, editing by Kirsti Knolle)