WHO chief urges US to reconsider funding, says “virus will be with us for a long time”; spread latest

Geneva, Switzerland
Reuters

The head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday that he hoped the Trump administration would reconsider its suspension of funding, but that his main focus was on ending the pandemic and saving lives.

There were “worrying upward trends” in early epidemics in parts of Africa and central and South America, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

People queue to receive free protective masks that have been bought by evangelicals in China and are distributed by Members of the Evangelical Christian Church, as the spread of the coronavirus disease continues, in Rome, on 22nd April. PICTURE: Reuters/Yara Nardii

“Most countries are still in the early stages of their epidemics and some that were affected early in the pandemic are starting to see a resurgence in cases,” Tedros told Geneva journalists in a virtual briefing. 

“Make no mistake we have a long way to go. This virus will be with us for a long time,” he said, while noting that epidemics in Western Europe appear to be stabilising or declining.

US President Donald Trump last week criticised the WHO’s handling of the pandemic and announced he was suspending funding to the UN agency. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday said the United States strongly believes that China’s ruling Communist party failed to report the outbreak of the new coronavirus in a timely manner to the WHO.

“I hope the freezing of the funding will be reconsidered and the US will once again support WHO’s work and continue to save lives,” Tedros said. “I hope the US believes that this an important investment, not just to help others but for the US to stay safe also.”

The WHO’s top emergencies expert Dr. Mike Ryan warned against opening up global travel too quickly, saying it would require “careful risk management”.

He noted surges in infections in Africa such as a nearly 300 per cent increase in cases in Somalia in the past week. “We are at the beginning in Africa,” Ryan said.

The WHO officials urged countries to continue investing in preparedness, saying that only 76 per cent had surveillance systems to detect cases.

“There are still many gaps in the world’s defences and no single country has everything in place,” said Tedros.

Amid criticism that it should have acted earlier, Tedros defended the WHO’s decision to declare an international emergency only on 30th January – its highest level of alert.

“Looking back I think we declared the emergency at the right time and when the world had enough time to respond,” said Tedros, adding that on that date there were only 82 COVID-19 cases outside of China and no deaths at the time.

Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust global health charity, said that the world would need to learn to live with the new COVID-19 disease.

“This is not a discrete one-off episode. My belief is that this is now an endemic human infection…We’re going to have to find ways to deal with that,” he told an online media briefing.

– Additional reporting by KATE KELLAND in London

CORONAVIRUS LATEST

Reported cases of the coronavirus have crossed 2.57 million globally and 178,574 people have died, according to a Reuters tally as of 1400 GMT on Wednesday.

• An old malaria drug touted by President Trump as a “game changer” provided no benefit and potentially higher risk of death for patients at US veterans hospitals, according to an analysis submitted for expert review.

• Ecuador is preparing a plan to reactivate its economy and allow flights home for citizens stranded abroad, the government said following a month of strict quarantine.

• Peru’s hospitals are struggling with a rapid rise in infections, with bodies being kept in hallways, masks repeatedly reused, and protests of medical workers concerned over their safety.

• Mexico registered a jump of more than 700 confirmed cases on Tuesday, to reach a total of 9,501, health ministry officials said.

• Allies of both Venezuela’s President and its Opposition Leader have begun secret talks as concerns grow about the possible impact of the pandemic, according to sources on both sides.

• Hundreds of Brazilians stranded in South-East Asia during an emergency lockdown are headed home after the Brazilian embassy in Bangkok chartered a flight for them.

EUROPE
• Germany approved live human testing of a potential vaccine developed by German biotech company BioNTech.

• It may take European Union countries until the summer or longer to agree on how to finance an economic recovery as major disagreements persist, an official said on Wednesday.

• The outbreak has caused as many as 41,000 deaths in the United Kingdom, according to a Financial Times analysis of official data.

• Britain’s Prime Minister faced a call for an inquiry into his government’s handling of the crisis after failing to fully explain partial death data, limited testing or the lack of equipment for hospitals.

• Spain’s Prime Minister said he plans to begin phasing out lockdown measures in the second half of May.

• Confirmed infections surpassed 10,000 in Poland on Wednesday, the highest number in post-communist central Europe, as it slowly eases restrictions ahead of a presidential election.

• Ukraine extended strong quarantine measures till 11th May.

• The Kremlin called allegations about artificial origin of the new coronavirus groundless and unacceptable.

• The Berlin Marathon will not go ahead in September after Germany banned public gatherings of over 5,000 until 24th October.

ASIA-PACIFIC
• Hackers working in support of the Vietnamese Government have attempted to break into Chinese state organisations at the centre of Beijing’s effort to contain the outbreak, a US cybersecurity firm said.

• A north-eastern city of 10 million people grappling with what is now China’s biggest outbreak further restricted inbound traffic on Wednesday.

• Japan’s effort to distribute protective masks has been marred by complaints about mould, insects, and stains.

• More than 30 crew members on an Italian cruise ship docked in Japan’s Nagasaki prefecture have tested positive.

• India suspended antibody tests because of concerns over reliability, health officials said on Wednesday.

• Hong Kong’s leader said the replacement of several ministers was aimed at reviving the coronavirus-hit economy and was unrelated to recent remarks from mainland China reaffirming Beijing’s authority.

• Australia’s Prime Minister called for an international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, but France said beating the pandemic came before looking for who was at fault.

• The Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics Organising Committee said a member of the organisation has tested positive for the new coronavirus.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
• Sixty-eight people, mostly staff, have come down with the coronavirus at a prison in the Moroccan city of Ouarzazate, prison authorities said, without reporting any deaths.

• A Lebanese university hospital team will test for the coronavirus at a refugee camp on Wednesday after a resident was found to be infected, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency

• Air Mauritius has entered voluntary administration after the disruptions made it impossible to meet its financial obligations for the foreseeable future, its board said.

• Zambia’s Chamber of Mines has urged the government to urgently engage with the sector and agree relief measures.

ECONOMIC FALLOUT
• Oil took markets on another rollercoaster ride on Wednesday as Brent somehow managed to reverse an early 12 per cent crash to 1999 lows and give battered petrocurrencies and stock markets something to cheer, with coronavirus lockdowns slashing demand.

• As the world marked the 50th anniversary of Earth Day on Wednesday, calls were growing for “green recovery” packages to spur a shift to a low-carbon future.

• A possible drop in emissions due to the pandemic will not be enough to stop climate change, the World Meteorological Organization said, urging governments to integrate climate action into recovery plans.

• The economies of Latin America and the Caribbean will shrink by a record 5.3 per cent in 2020, a United Nations agency said.

• The collapse in China’s economic activity has fanned calls for the government to hasten the rollout of fiscal stimulus, as ballooning unemployment threatens social stability.

• Turkey’s central bank slashed its key interest rate by 100 basis points to 8.75 per cent on Wednesday, more than expected.

– Compiled by SARAH MORLAND, ADITYA SONI, DEVIKA SYAMNATH, RAMAKRISHNAN M and UTTARESH V.