The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday he regrets U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to pull funding for the agency, but that now is the time for the world to be united in its fight against the new coronavirus.
Trump’s move prompted condemnation from world leaders as reported global coronavirus infections passed the 2 million mark.
Trump, who has reacted angrily to accusations that his administration’s response to the worst public health crisis in a century was slow and haphazard, had become increasingly hostile toward the U.N. agency before announcing his move on Tuesday.
He said the Geneva-based WHO had promoted Chinese “disinformation” about the virus, which had probably led to a wider outbreak than otherwise would have occurred.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference that the United States “has been a long-standing and generous friend of the WHO, and we hope it will continue to be so.”
“WHO is reviewing the impact on our work of any withdrawal of U.S. funding and we will work with partners to fill any gaps and ensure our work continues uninterrupted,” Tedros added.
WHO special envoy for the outbreak, David Nabarro, told a webinar that anyone seeking to pull funds or criticise the WHO should remember that “this is not just the WHO, this is the whole public health community that is involved right now.”
Trump accused the WHO of failing to investigate credible reports from Wuhan, China, where the virus was first identified in December, that conflicted with Beijing’s accounts about the spread.
Global health campaigner and donor Bill Gates tweeted that “Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds … The world needs WHO now more than ever.”
The United States contributed more than $400 million to the WHO in 2019, roughly 15% of its budget.
The international health body has been appealing for more than $1 billion to fund operations against the pandemic, which reached 2,001,548 confirmed cases on Wednesday, including more than 131,000 deaths, according to a Reuters tally.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for unity and “for the international community to work together in solidarity to stop this virus and its shattering consequences.”
DEBT RELIEF FOR POOREST
In one sign of that, the Group of 20 major economies agreed to suspend debt service payments for the world’s poorest countries from May 1 until the end of the year – a move Saudi Arabia said would free up more than $20 billion for them to spend on their health systems.
China’s Foreign Ministry said Trump’s decision “weakens the WHO’s capability and harms international cooperation” while EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell tweeted that “there is no reason justifying this move.”
The U.S. health advocacy group Protect Our Care called Trump’s move “a transparent attempt … to distract from his history downplaying the severity of the coronavirus crisis and his administration’s failure to prepare our nation.”
More than 2,200 people died of coronavirus-related illness in the United States on Tuesday, a record daily toll according to a Reuters tally.
New York City, center of the U.S. epidemic, revised its COVID-19 death toll sharply higher to more than 10,000 – almost a third of the overall U.S. total – to include victims presumed to have died of the disease but who were not tested.
But declines in hospitalizations and need for intensive care for coronavirus patients across New York state prompted Governor Andrew Cuomo to say on Wednesday that fears of its healthcare system becoming overwhelmed had not materialized.
Many of the hardest-hit countries have acknowledged that they are failing to register large numbers of coronavirus deaths among elderly people living in nursing homes, where testing is rare.
Data from Belgium indicated that almost half of its coronavirus-related deaths had occurred in nursing homes.
Spain and Italy, which trail only the United States in fatalities with almost 40,000 coronavirus deaths between them, have begun this week to allow some non-essential businesses to reopen in the hope of reawakening locked-down economies nosediving into recession.
GERMANY BEGINS TO REOPEN
Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday some shops in Germany could reopen next week and that schools would be allowed to open gradually from May 4, but that social distancing rules would remain in place for now.
But England’s chief medical officer said that although Britain, with almost 13,000 deaths, was probably close to the peak of its epidemic, it was too soon to be confident of that and begin thinking about next steps.
Governors of about 20 U.S. states spared the worst of the coronavirus outbreak may start reopening their economies by Trump’s May 1 target date, a top U.S. health official said.
The WHO said the world stood at a “pivotal juncture” and countries that eased restrictions should wait at least two weeks to evaluate the impact before easing further.
In a vivid reminder of the economic damage wrought by coronavirus-related lockdowns, data showing the U.S. economy in a deep downturn and reports of persistent crude oil oversupply and collapsing demand sent global shares falling.
The MSCI gauge of stocks around the world fell 2.5% after the International Energy Agency forecast a 29 million barrel per day dive in April oil demand to levels not seen in 25 years, and U.S. retail sales plunged 8.7% in March.
On the bright side, 106-year-old Connie Titchen, thought to be the oldest patient in Britain to beat the coronavirus, was discharged from hospital.
“I feel very lucky that I’ve fought off this virus,” she said. “I can’t wait to see my family.”
REUTERS