The United States has called for the setting up of a second phase of an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, with international experts allowed to evaluate its source and the “early days of the outbreak”.

“Phase 2 of the Covid origins study must be launched with terms of reference that are transparent, science-based, and give international experts the independence to fully assess the source of the virus and the early days of the outbreak,” US health secretary Xavier Becerra said in a video message to the annual ministerial meeting of the World Health Organisation.

Becerra did not mention China directly, where the first known human cases of Covid-19 were reported in December 2019, according to a Reuters report.