Now Isn’t The Time To Question Chinese Numbers On Coronavirus: Trudeau
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says there will be time for accountability later, after classified U.S. intelligence reportedly concluded China concealed the extent of its coronavirus outbreak from the world.
Three unnamed U.S. officials told Bloomberg News Wednesday the report was sent to the White House last week. Trudeau did not respond directly when asked if the government trusts information coming out from China.
“We’ve learnt a lot from South Korea, Singapore, and other countries. We’ve learned, unfortunately, a lot from Italy as well in terms of what worked and what didn’t work there,” the prime minister said, at a daily news conference outside his Ottawa home Thursday.
“Obviously, there will be many many questions as this is all worked through over the coming months, and indeed years, on how this was handled, what lessons are taken, who did well, who didn’t do as well, and who was perhaps not as forthcoming with the global community as they should have been.”
Watch: Trudeau says better data on COVID-19 in Canada is on its way. Story continues below video.
Those questions, he said, are for the future. “Our focus right now is getting through this in a way that keeps Canadians whole and safe.”
Cabinet ministers later gave reporters a confused picture on whether the Canadian government believes China may have under-reported its cases and death counts.
“We are very concerned about this information,” Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne said, at the ministers and public health officers’ daily press conference. He said he had just wrapped up a call with NATO allies on the topic and international partners are aware they need to speak with one voice to uphold facts and a science-based approach.
“People watching at home deserve answers, they deserve data, they deserve the truth when it comes to actual data,” Champagne said.
Canada draws its information from the World Health Organization (WHO) and it...
