More than half of Britons blame China for pandemic

LONDON

More than half of British people believe that China is responsible for the fast spread of novel coronavirus, a new poll suggests.

According to the survey carried out for British tabloid Daily Mail by Redfield & Wilton, 56 % of the U.K. public holds Beijing responsible for the spread.

The poll also says there is a big support for a global ban on “wet” animal markets, as some scientists believe the virus has originated in such a market in Wuhan, China.

The survey results came after Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said yesterday that the outbreak should be looked at in detail.

“I think there absolutely needs to be a very, very deep dive after the event review of the lessons - including of the outbreak of the virus - and I don't think we can flinch from that at all, it needs to be driven by the science,'” Raab said.

China yesterday revised the death toll in Wuhan, where the first cases appeared, adding 50 % more deaths to originally reported by officials. The city added 1,290 deaths to the official tally, bringing the toll to 3,869.

The poll found that 26 % of British people did not find China responsible for the pandemic, and 18 % were not sure.

Nearly 75 % of Britons voted for a worldwide ban on wet markets and 54 % backed the idea of naming the virus as the “Wuhan Virus”.

After originating in China last December, COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has spread to at least 185 countries and regions across the world. Europe and the U.S. are currently the worst-hit regions.

The pandemic has killed over 147,300 people, with total infections exceeding 2.18 million, while more than 555,100 have recovered from the disease, according to figures compiled by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.