Covid-19 coronavirus: Trump blasts world health group, defends early pandemic steps

United States President Donald Trump. Photo / AP

United States President Donald Trump threatened to freeze US funding to the World Health Organisation, saying the international group had "missed the call" on the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump also played down the release of January memos from a senior adviser that represented an early warning of a possible coronavirus pandemic, saying he had not seen them at the time.

But he turned his anger on the WHO, first declaring that he would cut off US funding for the organisation, then backtracking and saying he would "strongly consider" such a move.

Trump said the international group had "called it wrong" on the virus and that the organisation was "very China-centric" in its approach, suggesting that the WHO had gone along with Beijing's efforts months ago to minimise the severity of the outbreak.

The WHO has praised China for its transparency on the virus, even though there has been reason to believe that more people died of Covid-19 than the country's official tally.

Many of Rio de Janeiro’s famous beaches have been buzzing with surfers despite stay-at-home orders aimed at protecting the people https://t.co/ICQGrxoZXk pic.twitter.com/IUwIP988yP

— Reuters (@Reuters) April 8, 2020

"They should have known and they probably did know," Trump said of WHO officials.

Throughout his presidency, Trump has voiced scepticism towards many international organisations and has repeatedly heaped scorn on the WHO. In its most recent budget proposal, in February, the Trump Administration called for slashing the US contribution to the WHO from an estimated US$122.6 million to US$57.9 million.

The organisation's current guidance does not advocate closing borders or restricting travel, though many nations, including the US, have enacted those steps.

The WHO declared Covid-19 a public health emergency on January 30, nearly a month before Trump tweeted that "the Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA" and a full 43 days before he declared a national emergency in the US.

Health experts have suggested that the weekly death totals will reach a new high in the US this week.

It does appear “this virus is viciously attacking the underlying conditions like hypertension and high blood pressure. ... And we know that African Americans suffer from these ailments in high proportions,” DC @MayorBowser says about the impact of the coronavirus in her city. pic.twitter.com/gcrjyfEezH

— CNN (@CNN) April 8, 2020

More than 12,000 people have died from the virus in the US.

Vice-President Mike Pence said that the Centres for Disease Control will release new guidelines this week for returning to work for people with potential exposure but who may not be displaying symptoms.

Trump continued today to defend his actions in the early days of the crisis. He played down memos written by Peter Navarro, a senior White House adviser, that were made public this week.

In the late January memos, the most direct warning as yet uncovered in the upper levels of the Trump Administration, Navarro warned that the coronavirus crisis could cost the US trillions of dollars and put millions of Americans at risk of illness or death.

Man stranded at LAX for three months during coronavirus pandemic is almost home https://t.co/WBluiBnztq

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) April 8, 2020

Trump said that he was not aware of the memos back in January but that he unilaterally followed some of their recommendations, including taking steps to curtail travel from China.

But he said he wouldn't have wanted to act prematurely when it was not clear how dire the situation would become.

"I don't want to create havoc and shock and everything else. I'm not going to go out and start screaming, 'This could happen, this could happen,'" Trump said.

"I'm a cheerleader for this country."

- AP