President Donald Trump is very upset with the World Health Organization (WHO). And he made it known on Twitter, his favorite means of communication. On Tuesday, April 7, the American president charged the organization, accusing it of unpreparedness facing the epidemic and issuing bad recommendations.
The W.H.O. really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be giving that a good look. Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 7, 2020
“WHO really blew it,” he wrote on the social network. “For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be giving that a good look. Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?”
Indeed, at the very beginning of the Coronavirus crisis, on January 30, the WHO had announced the international emergency, and its director emphasized that there was no reason to limit travel and trade with the China, recalled BFMTV. “WHO […] even opposed any travel restrictions”, Trump insisted.
The organization said in a statement that restrictions on the movement of people and goods during a health emergency could be “ineffective”, disrupt aid delivery and have “negative effects” on the economies of affected countries.
In recent days, the United States has become the country most affected by the Coronavirus epidemic. In total, 360 000 cases of infection were counted and nearly 11 000 deaths. New York State alone registered a record 731 deaths in 24 hours.
In the United States, the number of deaths is increasing by more than 1 000 per day. On Tuesday, April 7, this daily report even rose to 2 000, a sad record since the start of the epidemic. The country will soon catch up with Italy and Spain, who mourn 16 523 and 13 005 dead respectively.