Following confirmed cases of Coronavirus now nearing 400,000 in the United States and the infections exceeding 1.4 million globally, President Donald Trump is said to have issued a threat to influence his recognition as a major performer in fight against the disease if not the best worldwide.
This has been confirmed as Trump threatened to put a “hold” on funds for the World Health Organization (WHO), accusing the organisation of bias towards China and performing badly in the coronavirus pandemic.
The DEFENDER reports that the American President gave the threat as deaths from the disease jumped in the United States, Europe and cases surged in Africa.
The US provides the WHO’s biggest source of funds hence hanging on that to blackmail it to succumb to doing its bidding.
It was however not clear what Trump, who has been attacking the media organisations and journalists in the USA branding them with unprintable names for asking relevant questions regarding his handling of the virus, wants the WHO to do.
A source told The DEFENDER, ‘It is unfortunate that President Trump would think that way. What does he want WHO to do? To block the results or reports coming from America or join him in wrongfully and mischievously, too, shifting the blame of the origin of the disease to China? Impossible!” He said.
Trump told reporters that he was “going to put a very powerful hold on” the WHO but did not elaborate.
His comments came as New York reported 731 people had died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus – the highest daily increase so far – and the number of confirmed cases in the US neared 400,000.
The United Kingdom, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in intensive care with the disease, also reported its biggest daily rise in deaths.
Amid fears of a new wave of infections, countries in Asia are stepping up measures against the outbreak with Japan entering a state of emergency and a partial lockdown, and Singapore closing all schools.
In Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus first emerged a ban on travel was finally lifted on Wednesday morning. Thousands took the opportunity to leave.
Globally, the number of people diagnosed with the virus now exceeds 1.4 million. More than 81,500 people have died while more than 300,000 have recovered according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Updates reaching us as at 01:30 GMT on Wednesday April 8, 2020 say China reports jump in confirmed cases of coronavirus from overseas.
The country’s National Health Commission has reported 62 new confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, nearly all of them in people returning from overseas.
The mainland’s imported cases stood at 1,042 as of Tuesday, 59 more than a day earlier, according to the health authority.
That brings the total number of confirmed cases to 81,802 so far and has posed no threat because restored life continues boom.
Wuhan’s latest is that a ban on travel from the Chinese city, where the coronavirus first emerged late last year, has been lifted with the first trains leaving the city early on Wednesday morning.
The city has been in strict quarantine since the end of January as part of a series of measures to try and curb the spread of the virus.
