Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), which was discovered in Wuhan, China has now taken more than 117,400 lives globally and infected over 1.8 million. Researchers are busy in producing the best vaccines, and world leaders are cooperating to slow the spread of the virus that causes a disease with symptoms like flu but can become highly deadly.

Despite the global efforts to mitigate the outbreak, the situation is also triggering diplomatic tensions among countries for various reasons, from access restriction to pro-China allegations targeting the World Health Organization (WHO).

Trump Slams the World Health Organization as Being Pro-China

US President Donald Trump threatened to freeze aid to the Geneva-based institution and accused it of being biased towards China.

“The WHO really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China-centric. We will be giving that a good look. Fortunately, I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?” Trump recently tweeted.

The allegation came amid the surge in the numbers of COVID-19-related infections in the U.S. As of April 13, there are 564,317 recorded cases of COVID-19 in the US and 22,859 deaths, surpassing the death toll in Italy and Spain.

American lawmakers from the Republican Party, Lindsey Graham, and Marco Rubio backed Trump by saying that there would be no aid assistance for the WHO. They also specifically demanded the resignation of WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Criticism of the WHO’s Response to COVID-19

The WHO has been under ongoing criticism for its handling of COVID-19. At the end of January, the health organization under the United Nations (UN) admitted making a wrong assessment about the global risk of the Novel Coronavirus.

The WHO uses three categories to evaluate the global risk; severity level, a level based on how widespread the virus is, and a level which measures the mitigation capacity. In the past, the WHO was slammed for hurriedly declaring the swine flu (H1N1) a global pandemic in 2009, triggering the vaccine’s panic buying. In 2014, the WHO faced criticism for underestimating the Ebola outbreak in three West African countries that claimed more than 11,000 lives at that time and is still ongoing.

Taiwan Demands Apology from WHO Boss

Taiwan recently demanded that Ghebreyesus apologize after the Ethiopian microbiologist was believed to have accused Taiwan of launching a racist attack on him and the organization he chairs.

In her Facebook account, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen responded to Ghebreyesus’ accusation by writing that Taiwan has been excluded from international organizations (due to the one-China policy) and understands more about feeling discriminated against than anyone else.

China has dubbed Taiwan the mainland’s renegade province due to the 1949 civil war and blocked the international community from recognizing Taiwan as an independent state, which is widely known as the One-China principle.

The WHO snubbed Taiwan’s early warning about the potential danger of the Novel Coronavirus in Wuhan in December 2019, given that Taiwan is not a member of the WHO. The organization’s denial has made the world pay the price as even countries with the best health care systems such as the U.S. and Italy are not prepared to deal with the surging amount of infected patients.

Taiwan is hailed as one of the most prepared countries in dealing with COVID-19, thanks to its past experience fighting SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrom) outbreak in 2003. Taiwan has combined transparency, the implementation of technology to identify cases and track patients, and solid coordination involving relevant institutions to contain the pandemic.

South Korea’s Protest over Japan’s Travel Restrictions

In early March, South Korea protested Japan’s decision to quarantine travelers coming from China and South Korea as an effort to curb the virus.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry urged Tokyo to reconsider its “irrational and arrogant” steps and announced plans to summon the Japanese ambassador to discuss the matter.

“We express deep regret towards the unjust measures taken by the Japanese government,” South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha stated as Todayonline reported. He added that Seoul might take countermeasures if necessary.

South Korea has drawn global praise for tackling the COVID-19 outbreak without imposing a nationwide lockdown, thanks to the integration of technology, transparency, and rapid mass testing. Also, South Korea is the world’s second-most efficient country in dealing with the outbreak after Singapore, as research from Deep Knowledge Venture — a Hong-Kong-based venture capital company — recently revealed.

The EU’s Long Path to Approving a Stimulus Package

On April 11 the European Union (EU) approved a half a billion Euro (equal to 4 percent of Europe’s GDP) stimulus to offset to the impact of the pandemic.

The package will enable the countries which have been hardest hit by COVID-19 hardest-hit countries such as Italy and Spain to access the bailout worth up to 240 million Euros, as long as the budget is used to improve the needs for their healthcare services.

The mortality rates related to COVID-19 in Italy and Spain have reached an alarming level, despite the lockdown both countries are imposing. As of April 13, Spain’s infection numbers come second after the U.S. (169,496), with 17,489 deaths while Italy has recorded more than 20,460 deaths and 159,516 COVID-19 cases so far.

Previously, France and the Netherlands were at odds over the bloc’s finance ministers’ compromise to disburse 500 billion Euro for the pandemic package, given that using up all the bloc’s money will make the bloc difficult to save in another rainy day.

“You cannot judge when you are in the crisis. We do agree we should make use of all our instruments. But we should not use up all our instruments this week, because we don’t know how long the crisis will be,” an EU diplomat told Eurobersever.

Germany and Canada Accused the US of Sabotaging Masks

A senior Germany official accused the Trump administration of “modern piracy” after seizing almost 200,000 face masks previously ordered by Germany, as the Guardian reported.

Berlin state’s Interior Minister, Andreas Geisel, confirmed the media reported that around 200,000 FFP2 masks bought for the Berlin Police were confiscated in the airport in Bangkok, Thailand’s capital following the US authorities’ intervention.

The American company 3M is the producer of those masks. It said that the Trump administration had demanded the increase in shipment to the U.S. from its overseas factories.

However, the Trump administration also orders the company not to export its masks to Canada and Latin America, triggering anger from Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The young prime minister argued that the US also relies on medical supplies from Canada.

Masks are the hottest commodities in the pandemic, as well as hand sanitizers and rapid test kits. Many doctors and medical workers around the world are facing a shortage of masks and protective equipment, making them more vulnerable to the COVID-19 infection.

L'articolo Diplomatic Clashes Over Covid-19 Intensify proviene da InsideOver.

Three months after COVID-19 first appeared in China, US President Donald Trump has determined who to blame for the resulting global health pandemic: the World Health Organization. On Tuesday, he announced that he would cut American funding for the international body pending a US review of its handling of the outbreak.

America’s WHO Funding Revoked

“The WHO failed in its basic duty and must be held accountable,” Trump said, fulfilling a threat he issued last week when he called the WHO “China-centric.”

“This is an evaluation period, but in he meantime, we’re putting a hold on all funds going to World Heath.”

For 2018 and 2019, the US gave a combined $900 million to the WHO, according to the organization, which accounted for nearly 20% of its budget. Nearly 75% of America’s contribution was voluntary, as TIME reported.

Trump accused the WHO of withholding key data on the virus from the scientific community. He also said it was “severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the virus,” in part because of a bias toward China.

The US now leads the world in COVID-19 deaths and cases.

The WHO Responds

“We alerted the world on January 5,” said Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Program. “Systems around the world, including the U.S., began to activate their incident management systems on January 6. And through the next number of weeks, we’ve produced multiple updates to countries, including briefing multiple governments, multiple scientists around the world, on the developing situation — and that is what it was, a developing situation.”

Ryan continued his breakdown of the organization’s response by stressing the emphasis it put on limiting possible human-to-human spread in the early days of the virus. Five days after the virus was identified, its genetic sequence was shared with the international medical community, he added.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he regrets Trump’s decision, but vowed that WHO’s global mission will continue.

“COVID-19 does not discriminate between rich nations and poor, large nations and small. It does not discriminate between nationalities, ethnicities or ideologies,” Tedros said. “Neither do we. This is a time for all of us to be united in our common struggle against a common threat — a dangerous enemy.”

Months of Inaction by Trump

Trump’s decision to attack the WHO is his tactic for shifting blame for the crisis away from himself. In fact, Trump received a briefing from Alex Azar, his health secretary, on January 18 before the first US cases. Days later, Trump declared, “We have it totally under control … It’s going to be just fine.”

On Jan. 31, Trump said his administration was “working closely with China and others on Coronavirus outbreak. Only 5 people in U.S., all in good recovery.” In February, he floated the idea that warmer weather may cause it to disappear, and on Feb. 28 he called it a hoax politicized by Democrats for political gain.

On March 9, the American leader continued to assert that the virus was not that dangerous, tweeting, “So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!”

Despite his nonchalant attitude toward the virus, when the WHO declared it a pandemic on March 17, Trump changed course and said “I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.”

In an attempt to cover up for his own shortcomings, Trump is scapegoating the WHO. His move to halt funding has raised legal questions that Democrats are already jumping on.

House Speaker Pelosi Slams Trump’s ‘Illegal’ Move

“This decision is dangerous, illegal and will be swiftly challenged,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D–Cali. She said the move was “senseless” and called for International cooperation to fight the pandemic.

“This is sort of like shooting at an ambulance because you don’t like how quickly they responded to the first call, when you’ve still got lots of wounded,” said Sen. Christopher Coons, D–Del. Coons is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which in charge of allocating funding for groups like the WHO.

The committee allocated $120 million to cover membership dues for 2020, half of which has already been paid, according to the Washington Post. Voluntary contributions make up the rest of Washington’s funding, which varies between $200 million and $300 million per year.

Democrats argue the assessed dues that Congress appropriates money for cannot be restricted by Trump. 

“In a desperate attempt to deflect blame, President Trump is violating the same spending laws that brought about his impeachment,” said Evan Hollander, spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee.

In that case, the Government Accountability Office determined Trump did indeed violate the law when he temporarily withheld military aid for Ukraine. The 1974 Impoundment Control Act significantly reduces the president’s power to withhold or reallocate funds appropriated by Congress. According to the law, the president must first notify Congress, which must approve the measure within 45 days. 

However, Congress is not required to vote on proposals to revoke funds and historically has ignored such requests. Congress is also recessed until May, so there aren’t any immediate legislative responses it can pursue. When it does return, however, the topic will undubitably come up as Democrats seek to return the WHO’s funding.

Republicans Stand by Their Leader

Congressional Republicans are siding with Trump, at least for now. 

“Cutting off funding at this time is the right move,” said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham, R–S.C. “This is a critical time for worldwide public health, and we cannot afford China apologists running the WHO. I support a suspension of funding by the United States until there is new leadership at the WHO.”

Sen. Todd Young, R–Ind., went a step further, calling for Tedros to appear before a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee to answer for The WHO’s failures.

“It has given sanction to the ham-fisted response of the Chinese and the misinformation perpetuated by the Chinese,” Young said. “On all fronts, I’ve been not just unimpressed but outraged by the responsiveness and the performance of the World Health Organization.”

Some criticism of the WHO may be warranted. Tedros said “China is actually setting a new standard for outbreak response” even as its reporting honesty was called into question. Some argue the organization could have declared a health emergency sooner, yet that power was also afforded to individual states, many of which did lock down sooner. 

However, cutting funding during the pandemic, rather than waiting for it to subside and ordering a review before acting, only serves to make the situation worse. The WHO isn’t acting only on COVID-19 — it is fighting other diseases and crises across the globe, all of which require funding.

Trump’s slow response to the coronavirus likely cost American lives. His attempt to cover it up by scapegoating the WHO could cost more lives across the globe.

L'articolo Trump Scapegoats WHO at the Worst Possible Time proviene da InsideOver.