Iran Press/ America: The move to quit the Geneva-based body, which the United States formally joined in 1948, comes amid growing tensions between Washington and Beijing over the coronavirus outbreak. The virus first emerged in China’s Wuhan city late last year.
According to Reuters, speaking in the White House Rose Garden, Trump said Chinese officials “ignored their reporting obligations” to the WHO about the virus - that has killed hundreds of thousands of people globally - and pressured the agency to “mislead the world.”
“China has total control over the World Health Organization despite only paying $40 million per year compared to what the United States has been paying which is approximately $450 million a year,” he said.
Trump’s decision follows a May 18 pledge of $2 billion by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the World Health Assembly - the WHO decision-making body - to help deal with the coronavirus and economic and social development in affected countries, especially developing countries.
Trump last month halted funding for the 194-member organization, then in a May 18 letter gave the WHO 30 days to commit to reforms.
The World Health Organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s announcement.
Johns Hopkins University reported today (Tuesday) that in the past 24 hours, 338 new people have died from the coronavirus in the United States, bringing the total number of victims in the country to 130,284.
The figures also show that in the past 24 hours, 47,131 new cases have been added to the number of people infected with COVID-19 in the United States, bringing the total number of people infected in the United States to 2,935,000. 716.
Public health experts stress that Trump is only helping to make matters worse by ignoring the growing trend of the coronavirus.
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