US officially pulls out of WHO
The Trump administration has formally withdrawn the US from the World Health Organisation as the US death toll from the Covid19 coronavirus surpasses 130,000. The US notice of withdrawal was effective from Tuesday, when it was formally submitted to the United Nations secretary-general, a senior administration official said yesterday.
US President Donald Trump first announced in May that he would be ‘‘terminating’’ his country’s relationship with the WHO, blaming its ties to China, and indicating that the international body would get no more US funding.
He has blamed the WHO for failing to warn countries early enough about the dangers of coronavirus, and not forcing China to be transparent about the outbreak, which began in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
The huge US death toll from
Covid-19 makes up about a quarter of the global total, and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has forecast that it could climb to 160,000 in July.
Covid-19 hospital admissions in Texas have more than doubled over the last two weeks. Arizona reported a new high of more than
3300 cases yesterday. Trump yesterday launched an all-out effort pressing state and local officials to reopen schools in the autumn.
He argued that some were keeping schools closed not because of the risks from the coronavirus pandemic but for political reasons because they were Democrats.
‘‘We’re very much going to put pressure on governors and everybody else to open the schools,’’ Trump said at a White House discussion on school plans for autumn.
The meeting involved health and education leaders from across the nation, who said schools and colleges were ready to open this autumn and could do so safely. They argued that the risks of keeping students at home outweighed any risks tied to the coronavirus, saying students needed access to meal programmes and mental and behavioural health services.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has sent mixed signals on the issue, saying students should return to the classroom but also noting that virtual classes present the lowest risk of Covid-19 spread.
Speaking at Trump’s event yesterday, however, the agency’s director, Dr Robert Redfield, said that it was better for students to be in school. He noted that Covid19 cases tend to be mild in young people. –