“The Chinese, behind the shield of the WHO, for two months hid the virus from the world and then sent hundreds of thousands of Chinese on aircraft to Milan, New York and around the world to seed that.” Milan and New York went on to become hot spots for the pandemic. Navarro’s comments add to the almost daily barrage of US attacks on China, including suggestions that the virus escaped from a laboratory in the central city of Wuhan

Washington: The Trump administration stepped up its campaign of blaming China for the deadly Coronavirus pandemic, with a top aide suggesting Beijing sent airline passengers to spread the infection worldwide.

“The virus was spawned in Wuhan province, patient zero was in November,” White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said on ABC’s “This Week.”

“The Chinese, behind the shield of the WHO, for two months hid the virus from the world and then sent hundreds of thousands of Chinese on aircraft to Milan, New York and around the world to seed that.” Milan and New York went on to become hot spots for the pandemic.

Navarro’s comments add to the almost daily barrage of US attacks on China, including suggestions that the virus escaped from a laboratory in the central city of Wuhan. As recently as last week, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo ratcheted up his criticism, asserting China covered up the origins of the virus. “They could have kept it in Wuhan,” Navarro said. “Instead, it became a pandemic. That’s why I say the Chinese did that to Americans and they are responsible.”