The World Health Organization's (WHO) Covid-19 special envoy on Wednesday urged people to first defeat the virus and criticize the world health body later. The World Health Organization also said that it doesn't expect the deadly coronavirus to disappear completely until a vaccine is developed.
The comments from WHO's special envoy on Covid-19 come after President Donald Trump, who has been critical of the world health body's, on Tuesday announced that the United States would stop funding the Geneva-based organization. United States has been one of the hardest hit with more than 614,000 testing positive for coronavirus of which over 26,000 have succumbed to the disease.
WHO special envoy indirectly criticizes US
The WHO on Wednesday said that defeating the virus is a global priority and criticism can take place later as the world struggles to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus. Although it didn't make any direct comments on US's decision to stop its funding, it was critical of any country taking such a step at this time.
"There are one or two countries that seem to be quite concerned about actions that were taken early on in the pandemic ... we say to everybody, we plead with everybody, look forward. Focus on the epic struggle right now and leave the recriminations until later," said David Nabarro at an online conference. He also cautioned that the virus is unlikely to completely disappear until a vaccine is developed.
Who indirectly appeals to the United States
Trump has been publicly lambasting the WHO for being too late in taking serious action after the coronavirus wreaked havoc in China. He had even accused WHO of being too trusting of China. On Tuesday, he suspended the US funding to the WHO, which he said was around $500 million per year, the highest by any country.
Trump since then has been criticized by many countries and also by the United Nations. However, Nabarro in his interview indirectly appealed to the US to reconsider its decision. "We love our partnership with United States," he said. "It would be so unfortunate if anything happened to lessen that cooperation."
Nabarro, who was also part of United Nation's special envoy on Ebola, warned countries not to be complacent in tackling the spread of the virus. "Respond rapidly, respond robustly and then you will be able to contain this virus and hold it at bay. If we argue about it, we will get into trouble," he said.
