Published 18:44 IST, May 2nd 2020
WHO lauds China for handling Coronavirus crisis; says other countries should learn from it
World Health Organization recently praised China for its handling of the coronavirus crisis and said that other nations should learn from Wuhan.
World Health Organization recently praised China for its handling of Coronavirus crisis and said that other nations should learn from Wuhan on how it was bringing back life to normal despite being the epicentre of the pandemic. This comes just a day after US President Donald Trump accused WHO of acting like a PR agency for China. Meanwhile, the deadly COVID-19 has now infected 3,402,211 across the world.
Maria van Kerkhove, the technical lead for WHO's Health Emergencies Programmes, speaking at a virtual press briefing, sadi: "That's very very welcome news to hear that there are no more severe cases, no more patients in Wuhan. So congratulations on this achievement. The world has learned from China and we need to continue to learn from Wuhan on how they are lifting those measures, how they are bringing society back to normal, or a new normal, in terms of how we''re going to live with this virus going forward."
'Tireless efforts'
She further said that China had worked very hard to bring the outbreak under control. Kerkhove was one of the China-WHO joint experts who visited China in February.
Describing her experience in China, she added that she was there for two weeks and was working directly with ministry officials as well as officials from all different sectors, from hospitals, through communities to really see what was put in place to bring those numbers down.
Appreciating the "tireless efforts" of the residents of Wuhan and said "not just the healthcare workers but the individuals who stayed in their homes, who adhered to the public health measures. We take our hats off to you, and we thank you for your commitment and your service, and for sharing with us in the world what you've been able to do".
On April 30, US President Donald Trump reportedly said the World Health Organization should be "ashamed of" itself, as it likened it to a public relations agency for China. The Trump administration has launched a probe into the role of the WHO on Coronavirus and has temporarily suspended the US' financial assistance to it.
"I think that the World Health Organization should be ashamed of themselves because they are like the public relations agency for China," Trump told reporters in the East Room of the White House.
Updated 18:44 IST, May 2nd 2020