The World Health Organisation (WHO) said it hoped China would invite it to take part in its investigations into the animal origins of the novel coronavirus, according to AFP.

“WHO would be keen to work with international partners and at the invitation of the Chinese government to participate in investigations around the animal origins,” the UN health body's spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told AFP in an email.

He said the WHO understood there were a number of investigations under way in China “to better understand the source of the outbreak”, but added that “WHO is not currently involved in the studies in China".