After Trump Threatens With Halting Of Funds, WHO Claims It Hid Nothing About COVID-19 Pandemic
WHO insists it sounded the alarm on the novel coronavirus right from the very start and had hidden nothing from Washington about the deadly pandemic. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there were no secrets at the UN agency after being blasted by the United States for allegedly downplaying the initial outbreak in China.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is under extreme pressure from the United States for hiding details of the novel coronavirus.
Responding to claims, the WHO, on Monday, insisted that it sounded the alarm on the novel coronavirus right from the very start and had hidden nothing from Washington about the deadly pandemic.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there were no secrets at the UN agency after being blasted by the United States for allegedly downplaying the initial COVID-19 outbreak in China.
At @WHO, we are an open book. Technical experts from around the ? are always embedded in our operations, working hand-in-hand with our own employees to scrutinize global data & make scientific deductions. This is how we always operate, incl from Day 1 of the #COVID19 outbreak. pic.twitter.com/IttwjOcBZC
¡ª Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) April 20, 2020
"We have been warning from day one that this is a devil that everyone should fight," Tedros told a virtual briefing in Geneva, reported news agency AFP.
The novel wirus emerged last year in the Chinese city of Wuhan. So far, it has infected more than 2.4 million people globally and killed more than 165,000, according to an AFP tally.
The United States has by far the highest death toll of any country, at more than 40,000 fatalities, and President Donald Trump has faced criticism over his handling of the pandemic.
Washington is the biggest contributor to the WHO but Trump is freezing funding, alleging that the organisation mismanaged and covered up the spread of the virus.
WHO said there were 15 staff from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the US health protection agency, detailed specifically to work with the organisation on its COVID-19 response, meaning everything is transparent.
AFP
"Having CDC staff means there is nothing hidden from the US, from day one. Because these are Americans working with us. It just comes naturally and they tell what they are doing," said Tedros.
"WHO is open. We don't hide anything. Not only for CDC, them sending messages, or others -- we want all countries to get the same message immediately because that helps countries to prepare well and to prepare quickly."
Earlier in January, WHO had tweeted the preliminary findings from an investigation conducted by the Chinese authorities, which allegedly hamper the handling of the virus.
Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel #coronavirus (2019-nCoV) identified in #Wuhan, #China??. pic.twitter.com/Fnl5P877VG
¡ª World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) January 14, 2020
Last week, Trump said he is going to halt funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) because it has "failed in its basic duty" in its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
He also accused the UN agency of mismanaging and covering up the spread of the virus after it emerged in China, and said it must be held accountable.
In response, the UN's chief said it was "not the time" to cut funds to the WHO.
Meanwhile, Trump himself is under fire for lopsided handling of the outbreak.
