In a letter, the president accuses the WHO of missteps and a “lack of independence” from China, where the coronavirus outbreak began.
President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to make the freeze on U.S. funding for the World Health Organization permanent.
He also laid out allegations of “missteps” in the way the agency responded to the coronavirus in a letter he said he sent to the WHO’s leader.
The letter, which was posted to Trump’s Twitter account and comes midway through the World Health Assembly, is addressed to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. It accuses the organization of an “alarming lack of independence from the People’s Republic of China.”
The coronavirus outbreak began in Wuhan, China. As of late Monday, it had killed more than 318,000 people around the world, according to Johns Hopkins University. In the U.S., more than 91,100 have died, according to an NBC News count.
“It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world,” the letter says. “The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China.”
The WHO has no authority to force foreign governments to divulge medical information or open doors to its hospitals and labs, experts have said.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-threatens-make-who-funding-freeze-permanent-n1210041
This is the letter sent to Dr. Tedros of the World Health Organization. It is self-explanatory!
This is the letter sent to Dr. Tedros of the World Health Organization. It is self-explanatory! pic.twitter.com/pF2kzPUpDv
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2020
MOSCOW – The United States said on Tuesday it would this week start delivering 200 medical ventilators to Russia, which has the world’s second highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases.
Russia reported 9,263 new infections on Tuesday, pushing its nationwide total to 299,941, and 115 more deaths, taking the total death toll to 2,837. Only the United States has reported more coronavirus cases.
The new cases were for a fourth successive day below 10,000. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Monday Russia had halted the growth in infections and that there were other positive signs.
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