He blame how WHO handled the situation
US President, Donald Trump withdraws £400m of funding to the World Health Organisation (WHO) over its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. Trump said he and his government have deep concerns as to whether its generosity has been put to the best possible use by WHO. He also said the organization had “failed in its basic duty and it must be held accountable”.
Trump said the group had promoted China’s “disinformation” about the virus that likely led to a wider outbreak of the virus than otherwise would have occurred. He said it wasn’t “fair” for the US to contribute roughly £300million to £400 million [$400 million to $500million] to the WHO when China has given around £33million [$42million].
This statement comes as the US death tolls hit 25,786 with 10,834 of these in New York.
Trump claims the outbreak could have been contained at its source and spared lives had the UN health agency done a better job investigating reports coming out of China. He also said the world depends on the WHO to work with countries to make sure accurate information about health threats is shared in a timely manner.
He added the organization must be held accountable for its apparent failings. But the US will continue to engage with the organization in pursuit of what he calls meaningful reforms. Trump also blamed the shortage of supplies on the previous administration. He added that the “scariest day of his life” was when he was told there was a 130,000 shortage of ventilators.
He later said 100,000 ventilators are in the federal stockpile which will be distributed to hospitals in need. Trump also authorized local governors to choose when to end the lockdown in their states. Based on John Hopkins University, the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases worldwide has hit almost two million, when just on 03/4 were a million.
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