China cannot accept the World Health Organisation’s plan for the second phase of a study into the origins of Covid-19, a senior Chinese health official has said.

Zeng Yixin, the vice-minister of the National Health Commission, said he was shocked by the plan and specifically, the theory that the virus might have leaked from a Chinese lab.

He dismissed the theory as a rumor that runs counter to common sense and science.

“It is impossible for us to accept such an origin-tracing plan,” he said at a news conference called to address the Covid-19 origins issue.

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