Published: 10:03, May 21, 2020 | Updated: 02:11, June 6, 2023
WHO chief says looking into Trump's letter, praises WHA
By Xinhua

In this March 9, 2020 photo, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization speaks during a news conference on updates regarding the novel coronavirus, at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. (SALVATORE DI NOLFI / KEYSTONE VIA AP)

GENEVA - The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday that he has received a letter from US President Donald Trump, while he termed the 73rd World Health Assembly as "very productive."

The WHO chief also told reporters that in the last 24 hours, there have been 106,000 COVID-19 infection cases reported to WHO

"We have received the letter and we're looking into it," the WHO chief said at a virtual press conference when answering a question from the press.

In the letter to WHO, a copy of which was published by Trump on Twitter Monday, the US president threatened that the United States will permanently cut off its funding to the WHO if the latter does not commit to what he called "substantive improvements within the next 30 days."

At Wednesday's virtual press conference, Tedros declined to give more comments on the letter.

The WHO chief stressed the significance of the 73rd World Health Assembly which ended on Tuesday, saying that the world has seen from the meeting unprecedented solidarity among heads of government and states from around the world to tackle the current COVID-19 pandemic.

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Tedros mentioned a landmark resolution unanimously adopted at the assembly, pointing out that the resolution sets out a clear roadmap of the critical activities and actions that must be taken to sustain and accelerate the response at the national and international levels.

"The landmark resolution underlines WHO's key role in promoting access to safe, effective health technologies to fight the pandemic," he said.

The WHO chief also told reporters that in the last 24 hours, there have been 106,000 COVID-19 infection cases reported to WHO -- the most in a single day since the outbreak began.

"We still have a long way to go in this pandemic," Tedros said.