Washington: The United States (US) recorded more than 2,000 coronavirus deaths in a 24-hour period for the third day running. This information was given by the Johns Hopkins University.
Staggering death toll
The country – hardest hit by the pandemic COVID-19 in terms of the number of fatalities – recorded 2,053 deaths Thursday. It had registered 2,502 deaths Wednesday and 2,207 Tuesday. At least 62,906 people have now died in the US, according to the Baltimore-based university.
Trump blames WHO
Meanwhile US President Donald Trump said Thursday that the World Health Organisation (WHO) should be ‘ashamed of’ itself. He likened the body it to a public relations agency working for China.
The Trump Administration has launched a probe into the role of the WHO on coronavirus. US has temporarily suspended financial assistance to WHO.
“I think that the World Health Organization should be ashamed of themselves. They are like the public relations agency for China,” Trump told reporters in the East Room of the White House.
US aid for WHO
The US, he reiterated, pays the WHO almost USD500 million a year and China pays them USD38 million a year. “Whether it’s a lot more, it doesn’t matter. They shouldn’t be making excuses when people make horrible mistakes. These mistakes are causing hundreds of thousands of people around the world to die.” “I think the World Health Organization should be ashamed of themselves,” said Trump.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo alleged that WHO failed to deliver and misled the world on coronavirus. “The World Health Organisation simply failed to respond in this case,” Pompeo said during a TV interview Thursday.
“With respect to the WHO, we know that they had one job, right? A single mission: To prevent the spread of a pandemic. We know that the leader of that organisation travelled to China. He then declined to declare it a pandemic until everyone in the world knew that was already true. It’s unfortunate, but this is not the first time there has been a virus go around the world from inside of China. It’s also not the first time the WHO has failed in its mission. We have an obligation to the American people to do our best to make sure that we fix that,” added Pompeo.
Lawmakers seek investigation
Meanwhile, several Republican lawmakers demanded a Congressional hearing. They alleged that WHO parroted the Chinese regime’s ‘disinformation’ on multiple occasions. They said that WHO never said human-to-human transmission of the virus would occur.
“WHO’s inaction and delay undoubtedly cost American lives. For these reasons, we commend the President’s decision to temporarily pause WHO’s funding,” the lawmakers said.
“WHO deserves a thorough congressional investigation for its alleged mis-handling of the coronavirus response,” said Congressman Chip Roy. “They accepted and promulgated a communist Chinese propaganda. That has caused so many deaths in the US,” he added.
Agencies