Covid-19: "The worst of the coronavirus is yet to come" - WHO chief
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed his concern at the spread of Covid-19 in Africa and also addressed Donald Trump's claims of a lack of transparency.
The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has warned that the "worst is yet to come" in the global battle against the coronavirus pandemic and also addressed accusations on the part of US President Donald Trump that the WHO has not been transparent about Covid-19 from the outset of the outbreak.
"Keeping things confidential is dangerous"
"There is not secret at the WHO, because keeping things confidential is dangerous," Ghebreyesus said at a press conference in Geneva. "It is a health problem and this virus is taking advantage of the differences between us. We will prevent this tragedy. It is a virus that many people still don't understand."
Ghebreyesus added that he was concerned about the spread of the virus in Africa, where cases have been steadily rising. There have been over 2.5m confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide and over 175,000 people have lost their lives to Covid-19.
WHO and the Trump Administration
The head of the WHO said of Trump's insistence that he would withdraw funding for the organization over its handling of the coronavirus outbreak that experts from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were working with the WHO to control the pandemic.
"Having CDC personnel working at the WHO shows that nothing has been hidden from the United States from day one. They are aware that we hand out information as soon as we have it and to anybody that wants it," the WHO chief stated.