China has been criticised for being secretive with regards to how it handled the start of the killer virus. Many countries believe Beijing delayed letting the world know about the seriousness of the COVID-19 outbreak. There are even concerns that people who spoke out about the virus may have been punished by the Chinese authorities.

WHO representative Dr Gauden Galea said to Sky News: “We know that some national investigation is happening but at this stage we have not been invited to join.

“WHO is making requests of the health commission and of the authorities.

"The origins of virus are very important, the animal-human interface is extremely important and needs to be studied.

"The priority is we need to know as much as possible to prevent the reoccurrence."

US intelligence officials have claimed China failed to express how serious the outbreak was at the very beginning.

The White House has said: “Understanding the origins of the virus is important to help the world respond to this pandemic but also to inform rapid-response efforts to future infectious disease outbreaks."

Dr Galea said it was unlikely there were only 41 cases in Wuhan from January 2 to January 16 2020, which was what was published.

He added: “Is that a matter of difficulty in finding were they getting their act together, is it a question of definition? I cannot speculate. But it would have been during that period obviously some growth would have been happening.

"It is unlikely that with an epidemic of this nature that it stays at 41 exactly.

"But yes, were there more cases? That is something that China will have to answer for."

Coronavirus lockdown

Coronavirus has left many countries in a state of lockdown (Image: EXPRESS)
WHO has been criticised by the US for accepting China’s statistics without questioning them.

President Trump has even said China “will do anything they can” to ensure he loses the election later this year.

He said to Reuters: “China will do anything they can to have me lose this race."