UK envoy in Washington backs probe into origins of pandemic, WHO reforms

FILE PHOTO - A worker adjusts British and China (R) national flags on display for a signing ceremony at the seventh UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue "Roundtable on Public-Private Partnerships" at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing September 21, 2015. REUTERS/Andy Wong/Pool

WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's ambassador to the United States on Wednesday backed calls for an investigation into the origins of the novel coronavirus and the response of the World Health Organization, but said the first priority should be containing the outbreak.

The comments came after Britain's foreign affairs parliamentary committee asked the government whether it plans to use international bodies to hold China to account over the COVID-19 pandemic.