AFP / Johannes EISELEA worker manages the flow of customers into a Food market in the Jackson Heights neighbourhood of Queens in New York City
President Donald Trump has threatened to pull the US out of the World Health Organization, accusing it of botching the global coronavirus response and of being a "puppet of China."
The American leader has been locked in a bitter spat with Beijing, alleging it covered up the initial outbreak in central China late last year before the disease unleashed death and economic devastation across the planet.
AFP / John SAEKIRise of COVID-19 deaths
More than 317,000 people have died of COVID-19 out of nearly 4.8 million infections worldwide, and governments are scrambling to contain the virus while seeking ways to resuscitate their hammered economies.
With more fatalities and cases in the United States than any other country by far, under-pressure Trump has blamed the WHO for not doing enough to combat its initial spread.
AFP / Miguel SCHINCARIOLA resident of Paraisopolis, one of Sao Paulo's largest slums, takes part in a protest to demand more aid from the Brazilian government during the COVID-19 pandemic
"They're a puppet of China, they're China-centric to put it nicer," he said on Monday at the White House. "They gave us a lot of bad advice."
Trump had already suspended US funding to the UN body, and after his White House comments, he tweeted a letter he had sent to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus threatening to make that freeze permanent.
AFP / Sai Aung MainMedical staff take the temperature of a resident while going door-to-door for health check-ups in Yangon, Myamar
"It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world," the letter said.
"The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China," it added, giving the body 30 days to show "substantive improvements."
Before the threat, the WHO had promised an independent review of its pandemic response.
AFP / Damien MEYERSchoolchildren wearing masks and face shields attend a class at Claude Debussy college in Angers, western France
Beijing has furiously denied the US allegations that it played down the threat, and Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated at the World Health Assembly that his nation had been "transparent" throughout the crisis.
As he launched his latest attack on China, Trump also dropped a bombshell saying he was taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug that his own government's experts have said is not suitable for fighting the coronavirus.
"I take a pill every day," said the president, adding that he is using it because he has "heard a lot of good stories."
- 'A test from God' -
Experts have warned that the social distancing measures that have impacted more than half of humanity will remain necessary to stop the virus until a vaccine or viable medical treatment is available.
AFP / Vincenzo PINTOA nun has her temperature checked before entering St. Peter's Square and Basilica at the Vatican
Development work on a prophylactic is under way at breakneck speed around the world, and results from a trial in the United States sparked optimism on Monday.
Early -- and small -- clinical trials of a vaccine by US firm Moderna showed encouraging results, with recipients showing an immune response similar to people recovering from COVID-19. It will begin a larger second-phase trial soon.
AFP/File / WANG ZHAOScientists at Peking University have said they are developing a drug that can help stop the pandemic without a vaccine
In China, meanwhile, scientists at Peking University have said they are developing a drug that can help stop the pandemic without a vaccine by using antibodies that can neutralize the virus.
They are planning clinical trials for the treatment, and are hoping to have the drug available later this year and in time for any potential winter outbreak.
AFP / Adem ALTANPolice patrol the streets of Ulus during curfew in Ankara, Turkey
Authorities around the world are keeping an eye on such breakthroughs as the virus continues on its destructive path, with many poorer nations now seeing a dramatic rise in infections even as the caseload eases in more developed parts of the world like Europe.
In Indonesia, gravediggers at a cemetery earmarked for COVID-19 victims in the capital Jakarta are struggling to keep up with the number of corpses arriving every day, trying not to touch the bodies and lessen the chance of getting infected themselves.
AFP / ADEK BERRYGravediggers lower the coffin of a COVID-19 victim into a grave at Pondok Ranggon cemetery in Jakarta
"I've been digging graves for 33 years now and I've never been this tired before," said gravedigger Minar.
"This is probably a test from God."
- Violence in Chile -
The vast economic damage caused by the virus has led to unprecedented emergency stimulus measures by governments and central banks, and the latest came from Europe where France and Germany laid out a half-trillion-euro fund.
AFP / Pablo RojasDemonstrators clash with riot police during a protest against Chilean President Sebastian Pinera's government in Santiago
The hard-hit continent has seen deaths and hospitalizations drop in recent days, sparking optimism about a post-pandemic recovery.
The daily death count in the United States has also slowed over the last couple of days, as all 50 states began easing lockdown measures to varying degrees.
The hard-hit continent has seen deaths and hospitalizations drop in recent days, sparking optimism about a post-pandemic recovery.
AFP / Brendan SmialowskiUS President Donald Trump has revealed that he is taking the controversial drug hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure against the coronavirus
The daily death count in the United States has also slowed over the last couple of days, as all 50 states began easing lockdown measures to varying degrees.
But other parts of the world -- especially developing countries -- are only just starting to feel the full force of the virus.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday many governments had ignored WHO recommendations.
"As a result, the virus has spread across the world and is now moving into the Global South, where its impact may be even more devastating," he warned.
AFP / Gent SHKULLAKUStudents follow social distancing guidelines as they enter a school in Albania
Already, Brazil has overtaken Britain to have the third-highest number of infections in the world with around 255,000 confirmed cases, and the death toll in Latin America and the Caribbean has topped 30,000.
In Chile, where the government has imposed strict distancing measures in some areas after a dramatic rise in cases, the economic pressure from lockdowns was brought into sharp focus as violence erupted in a crowded, poor area on the outskirts of the capital Santiago.
Angry residents wielding sticks erected barricades and threw rocks at riot police, who fought back with tear gas and water cannon.
"It is not because of the quarantine," resident Veronica Abarca told AFP.
"It is aid, food, what people are asking for right now."
burs-qan/je
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Trump threatens to permanently end WHO funding
May 19 (UPI) -- U.S. President Donald Trump late Monday threatened to permanently pull funding from the World Health Organization unless it commits to "major substantive improvements within the next 30 days."
The threat is an escalation to a hold Trump put on U.S. funding to the United Nations' health agency last month so as to conduct a review of the WHO's response to the coronavirus outbreak. Trump has accused it of "mismanaging and covering up" the spread of the disease.
In the letter posted to his Twitter account on Monday night, Trump said the review has confirmed his concerns over the WHO's handling of the virus and its "alarming lack of independence" from China.
"It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world," Trump wrote in the letter addressed to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. "The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China."
Trump said his administration has begun discussions with the WHO on reforms.
"We don't have time to waste," he said. "That is why it is my duty, as president of the United States, to inform you that if the World Health Organization does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the World Health Organization permanent and reconsider our membership in the organization."
The letter lists in chronological order several of the missteps Trump accuses the organization of having made, many of which are connected to China.
This is the letter sent to Dr. Tedros of the World Health Organization. It is self-explanatory! pic.twitter.com/pF2kzPUpDv— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2020
Amid the pandemic, the Trump administration has leveled criticism at the Asian nation over its lack of transparency and alleged cover-up of its initial outbreak.
U.S. Secretary of state Mike Pompeo earlier this month blamed China and its lack of transparency for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people to the virus worldwide.
China has balked at the United States' allegations, often pointing to praise from the WHO as proof of its openness and strong response to the virus.
In his letter Monday, Trump said because of the WHO's "failure" to publicly call out China's lack of transparency, more than 100 member states have backed a resolution at the ongoing World Health Assembly calling for a review of the WHO's handling of the crisis and for an independent investigation into the virus' origins.
After Trump announced the hold on funding last month, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement saying now is not the time to halt funding to the international organization fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump has said the United States gives between $400 million and $500 million a year to the WHO in contrast to the roughly $40 million it receives from China.
Since the virus emerged from the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, more than 4.8 million people worldwide have been infected resulting in more than 318,000 deaths, according to a live tracker of the virus by Johns Hopkins University. With 1.5 million infections and 90,000 deaths, the United States is by far the worst affected country by the coronavirus.
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U.S. blasts WHO's coronavirus response, says failure 'cost many lives'
May 18 (UPI) -- The United States harshly criticized the World Health Organization's response to the coronavirus pandemic Monday, saying the global agency's "failure cost many lives."
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, speaking during the WHO's two-day virtual World Health Assembly, repeated criticisms of the organization made last month by U.S. President Donald Trump, who pulled its funding after accusing it of "mishandling" and "covering up" the coronavirus outbreak.
"In an apparent attempt to conceal this outbreak, at least one member state made a mockery of their transparency obligations, with tremendous costs for the entire world," Azar said, apparently referencing China.
"We saw that WHO failed at its core mission of information sharing and transparency when member states do not act in good faith. This cannot ever happen again," he said.
The U.S. criticisms came after WHO's leader promised an independent investigation into its response to the coronavirus pandemic so that mistakes made during the health crisis are not repeated.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in opening remarks the inquiry will begin at the "earliest appropriate moment" and will review "experience gained and lessons learned" and make recommendations for how to improve "national and global pandemic preparedness."
The COVID-19 outbreak began in December in Wuhan, China.
Ghebreyesus said the WHO is "committed to transparency, accountability and continuous improvement" and urged more international support.
"The world doesn't need another plan, another system, another mechanism, another committee or another organization," Ghebreyesus said. "It needs to strengthen, implement and finance the systems and organizations it has -- including WHO."
Since the start of the pandemic, more than 4.7 million cases and 315,000 deaths have been reported.
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Monday's assembly is a gathering of delegations from all 194 member states who meet each year to set the WHO's policies and approve its budget. For the first time, the 2020 assembly is meeting virtually and has been compressed into two days.
After a plenary session on Monday, resolutions from individual delegations will be introduced Tuesday. Attention will be focused on a draft resolution backed by the European Union and Australia that calls for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday said Beijing supports a comprehensive investigation, as long as it's "objective" and "impartial."
Xi also said China will give $2 billion over two years to help with the COVID-19 response and economic and social development in affected countries, especially developing nations.
Australia last month called for an independent investigation to determine how the pandemic started, which drew an angry response from China that accused Canberra of "ideological bias and political games" at a time of worldwide emergency.
More than 120 countries have signed on to the resolution.
China also came under pressure from a U.S.-backed resolution pushing to grant Taiwan "observer status" at the assembly. This, too, was opposed by Beijing, which has long considered Taiwan a renegade breakaway province rather than an independent nation.
The assembly was scheduled to vote Monday on the proposal, but Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said Taipei has dropped the effort. Wu said the proposal was unlikely to be included in the assembly's shortened agenda.