The US decision to cut funding to the WHO comes at a time when it says it needs financial support more than ever to fight the worst global pandemic in 100 years. Here's how we got to this point and why Donald Trump has become increasingly critical of the organisation.
The US President says the coronavirus outbreak could have been contained at its source and lives could have been saved if the UN health agency had done a better of investigating reports coming out of China early on.According to the ABC's Washington bureau chief David Lipson, Mr Trump is under mounting pressure over the rising coronavirus death toll in the United States."Yesterday he attacked the media.
"The WHO's handling of the crisis has been far from perfect. It publicly supported China's early claims about the virus in January that human-to-human transmission had not been proven. @WHO Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel #coronavirus identified"The World Health Organisation has long said that travel restrictions during pandemics don't really work and can give people a false sense of security.
"Mr Trump insists his move to temporarily ban people entering the US from China bought valuable time in the fight against the virus. "But throughout February and early March, Mr Trump appeared to do little else to prepare, preferring to downplay the severity of the threat."By picking another fight, there may be less attention paid to America's rising death toll."
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Donald Trump praises top US health expert a day after retweeting calls for his sackingUS President Donald Trump says he likes leading health expert Anthony Fauci and does not intend to fire him.
Read more »
Donald Trump announces funding halt to World Health OrganizationBREAKING President Donald Trump announced a suspension of US funding to the World Health Organization because he said it had covered up the seriousness of the COVID-19 outbreak in China before it spread around the world.
Read more »
Andrew Cuomo says he would defy Donald Trump order to reopen US economyNew York Governor Andrew Cuomo says he would not abide by any order that US President Donald Trump might give to reopen his state in an unsafe manner during the coronavirus outbreak.
Read more »
Networks flee Trump briefing as he wheels out 'propaganda' videoThe extraordinary briefing was Trump's most combative yet, as he lashed out at the media, state governors and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Read more »
Trump says US will halt funding to WHO over handling of coronavirus pandemicUS President Donald Trump says he has told his administration to halt funding to the World Health Organisation over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Read more »
New York Governor to defy Trump coronavirus order to reopen US if unsafeThe Governor of New York - the United States' worst-hit location in the coronavirus pandemic - has said he will defy any order from President Donald Trump to reopen if it endangers people. 9News
Read more »