Donald Trump: The WHO must 'get its priorities right' and 'treat everyone fairly'
8 April 2020, 23:51
President Donald Trump has said that the US is going to conduct an "investigation" to determine if it will continue to send funds to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Speaking at the daily White House coronavirus press briefing, President Trump repeated his assertion that the WHO has got the pandemic "wrong".
He continued: "They must get their priorities right."
"Everybody has to be treated properly, and it doesn’t seem that way".
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Trump also claimed that China is unfairly favoured by the global health body.
At the same conference, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the Trump administration will be “re-evaluating our funding with respect to the World Health Organisation”
“Organisations have to work. They have to deliver the outcomes for which they were intended,” he continued.
On Wednesday, appearing to respond to Trump, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Covid-19 should not be a "politicised" issue.
Mr Trump also sent his wishes to the UK and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, saying "“I think that their great prime minster is doing much better today, or at least better.
“But certainly he’s had a tough bout and he’s still going through a tough time, but he seems to be doing better and that’s good, and we send our regards to Boris and his family, and his friends, all of the people that really love him.
“He’s become a very popular, before this happened, became a very popular prime minister, he’s doing an excellent job, he loves their country, he loves our country, so we appreciate everything he’s done, hopefully he’s going to be OK.”
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On Wednesday, the number of American victims of coronavirus jumped to over 14,000 and the number of infected began creeping towards half a million.
The US now has nearly 420,000 cases of the coronavirus, along with 14,262 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University count.
The hardest hit state remains New York, which has recorded 6,268 deaths from the virus.
The state has over 140,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, making it the epicenter of the outbreak.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced flags will be flown at half mast in his state.
He said: "The flags will be flown at half mast in honour of those we have lost to this virus.”
“The number of deaths, as a matter of fact, will continue to rise as those hospitalised for a longer period of time pass away,” he added.
“I understand the science of it. I understand the facts and the logic of it. But it is still incredibly difficult to deal with.”