US president said during a briefing on Friday that the federal government is investigating whether a new type of coronavirus has spread from a lab in Wuhan, Fox News reported.

Donald Trump promised the government will find out how the pandemic arose.

Asked about the accuracy of theories that COVID-19 likely started spreading first from a Wuhan lab and not from a Chinese wet market, Trump signaled the US is taking the matter seriously.

"We're looking at it. A lot of people are looking at it. It seems to make sense," Trump told reporters Friday at the White House. "... There is a lot of investigation going on and we're going to find out," Trump said of the origin of COVD-19.

The US president added that a global pandemic could have been prevented if China had taken action earlier.

"All I can say is wherever it came from -- it came from China, in whatever form -- 184 countries are suffering because of it. And it's too bad, isn't it? It could have been solved very easily when it was just starting."