COVID -19: US exits WHO amid Role in Pandemic

COVID -19: US exits WHO amid Role in Pandemic
 Published Saturday, July 11, 2020 | 21:47 CET | BIAFRA TODAY

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General

Calling the coronavirus a ‘common enemy’, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the pandemic a test of global solidarity and leadership saying the virus thrives on division.

New Delhi: World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus shed tears during press briefing over the US withdrawal from the UN agency calling COVID-19 a ‘common enemy’ and saying that humanity cannot fight this pandemic as a divided world.

“We cannot defeat this pandemic as a divided world... Together is the solution unless we want to give the advantage to the enemy, to the virus that has taken the world hostage,” he said at the agency's Geneva headquarters.

Taking deep breaths and long pause the WHO chief with his voice shaking called the COVID-19 pandemic a test of global solidarity and global leadership.

Coronavirus thrives on division

The virus thrives on division but is thwarted when we unite; he said questioning “How is it difficult for humans to unite to fight a common enemy, that’s killing people indiscriminately.”

He further said that division or the cracks between people and nations are advantageous for the virus which so far has claimed the lives of 545,481 people all over the world with 11,874,226 confirmed cases.

US President Donald Trump’s administration gave notice to the World Health Organization saying it would quit the body in a year's time.

WHO is China's puppet: Donald Trump

The US President has accused the WHO of becoming a puppet for China during the coronavirus pandemic and giving bad advice about the emerging pandemic.

Trump announced a temporary halt in US funding in April inviting condemnation from many world leaders including China.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian termed the move as “another demonstration of the US pursuing unilateralism, withdrawing from groups and breaking contracts”.

Calling the WHO as the most authoritative and professional international institution in the field of global public health security, Zhao said that the US departure would hurt developing countries in dire need of international support.