GENEVA (Reuters) – U.S. experts have been an important part of the World Health Organization (WHO) fight against COVID-19 since the outbreak began, and nothing has been “hidden” from any member state, senior WHO officials said on Monday.
Some 15 staff from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have been seconded to the U.N. agency since January, they said. “Having U.S. CDC staff means there is nothing hidden from the U.S., from day one,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general told a news conference.
Tedros – whose handling of the pandemic has been criticised by U.S. President Donald Trump who suspended funding last week – said that divisions between people and political parties were “fueling” the pandemic, but was not specific.
The WHO has placed orders for 30 million diagnostic tests over the next 4 months and is shipping nearly 180 million surgical masks in April and May, he said. More than 600 hospitals are now ready to enroll patients in WHO’s so-called Solidarity Trial of drugs against the disease, he added.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay and Emma Farge)
