Washington [US], Mar 20 : Taking a direct aim at China for the spread of coronavirus, US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that the lethal virus which has claimed the lives of over 10,000 people globally could have been stopped at Wuhan, the place of its origin.
"Thank you all for being here and we continue our relentless effort to defeat the Chinese virus," Trump said at his combative appearance before reporters at the White House, Washington Post reported.
"It could have stopped from where it has come from--China. The whole world is suffering. I called for a ban from people coming in from China," he added.
Coronavirus which first emerged in Wuhan city of China spread to the whole world. The epicentre has now shifted from China to Europe, where the death toll in Italy surpassed China.
Meanwhile, experts have also said that workers in Coronavirus-hit countries of Italy and Iran are paying a hefty price for their participation in China's flagship initiative 'One Belt One Road'.
Writing for the American online magazine The Federalist, Helen Raleigh said Italy and Iran signed up the OBOR in 2019, opening an array of sectors to Chinese investment, from infrastructure to transportation, and consequently employing thousands of Chinese workers for construction work under the initiative.
The Chinese workers stationed in there might be a reason for the exponential rise in the coronavirus cases.
The number of confirmed cases in the United States doubled Thursday. The number of cases of COVID-19 in the United States has reached 13,680 and 200 people have died so far.
US Senator Tom Cotton on Wednesday introduced legislation to end American reliance on Chinese drug administration, saying China unleashed this plague on the world, and it should be held accountable.
"That's why I'm introducing legislation that will say we're no longer going to buy our basic pharmaceuticals from China. There will be a total ban on buying."
"But now the whole world, almost, is inflicted with this horrible -- with this horrible virus, and it's too bad," Trump said to make the point that China had allowed that to happen.
"It's too bad because we never had an economy as good as the economy we had just a few weeks ago, but we will be back, and I actually think we will be back stronger than ever before because we learned a lot during this period of time."
Trump said, "And certainly, the world is paying a big price for what they did."
The National Security Council on Wednesday tweeted a Wall Street Journal story about the early days of the Chinese response.
"The Chinese Communist Party suppressed initial reports on the Chinese Virus and punished doctors and journalists, causing Chinese and international experts to miss critical opportunities to prevent a global pandemic," the message from the NSC's official Twitter account said.
( With inputs from ANI )