Coronavirus will be with us for a long time, WHO chief says
By: Team Ifairer | Posted: 23-04-2020
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Last week, United States President Donald Trump had criticised the health body's handling of the pandemic and announced he was suspending funding to the UN agency. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday said the United States strongly believed that China's ruling Communist Party failed to report the outbreak of the new coronavirus in a timely manner to WHO.
"I hope the freezing of the funding will be reconsidered and the US will once again support WHO's work and continue to save lives," Tedros said, according to Reuters. "I hope the US believes that this an important investment, not just to help others but for the US to stay safe also." He also said that the health agency declared the coronavirus outbreak to be a global emergency early enough and that the announcement was made when there were fewer than 100 cases outside China, where the virus was first detected late last year. "Looking back, I think we declared the emergency at the right time" on January 30, Tedros said, adding that the world "had enough time to respond".
The organisation's emergencies expert Mike Ryan warned against opening up global travel too quickly, saying it would require "careful risk management".