The World Health Organization has warned that more must be done to fight Coronavirus. The comments come a day after President Trump threatened to pull funding for the body.
The WHO’s regional director for Europe, Dr. Hans Kluge, said there is no room for complacency. Kluge was speaking to a video news conference from Copenhagen, Denmark.
Kluge said some countries “are experiencing a rapid increase in cases or a fresh surge” despite the fact other nations were beginning to ease restrictions.
“We still have a long way to go in the marathon and the progress we have made so far in fighting the virus is extremely fragile,” he said.
“To think we are coming close to an endpoint would be a dangerous thing to do. The virus leaves no room for error or complacency.”
While some U.S. conservatives, especially in the media, have argued for easing social distancing measures, Dr. Kluge said that decision “requires very careful consideration.”
He warned that health systems needed to be ready before lockdowns can be ended.
“Many of us are looking forward to celebrating Easter with better weather but this is not the time to lower our guard,” Kluge said.
“We must soldier on.”
President Donald Trump threatened to cut off U.S. funding of the WHO on Tuesday. His suggestion has since been echoed by figures on Fox News and Republican politicians.
“We’re going to investigate it, we’re going to look at it,” Trump said.
“But we will look at ending funding, yeah, because you know what, they called it wrong, and if you look back over the years even, everything seems to be very biased toward China. That’s not right.”
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