WHO pours oil on troubled waters

NEW YORK: World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has praised the US’s “immense” contribution to global health and urged a continuation of good ties, despite President Donald Trump’s move to quit the UN body.

Trump said on Friday he would cut ties with the WHO, accusing it of becoming a puppet of China during the coronavirus crisis.

Asked about health risks during protests in the UN, another WHO official, epidemiologist Maria van Kerkhove, told the same briefing that close contact could heighten the risk of spreading Covid-19.