#COVID19: ‘Don’t Politicize This Virus Unless You Want More Body Bags’—W.H.O Director, Tedros, Warns Donald Trump

The World Health Organization Director, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned the US President Donald Trump to stop politicizing the Coronavirus pandemic unless he wants a higher death toll.

Tedros’ comment comes after the US President and some US politicians and media houses this week, heavily criticized the WHO leader for ”playing into China’s hands” by not warning the world earlier about the deadly Coronavirus when it broke out in Wuhan, China.

The U.S. is the largest contributor to the W.H.O, followed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; the Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; and the United Kingdom. China, the world’s second-largest economy, is not among the top donors.

Trump labelled the WHO which is largely funded by the U.S. as ’China centric’ while threatening to cut funding to the health body but Tedros has warned Trump to resist such a move unless he wants more body bags.
 

“Please don’t politicize this virus,” Tedros said in a briefing in Geneva, after he was asked about Trump’s remarks.

He later urged political leaders to “please quarantine politicizing COVID.”

“The focus of all political parties should be to save their people,” Tedros said. He added that politicizing the virus only exploits differences at the national level.

“If you want to be exploited and if you want to have many more body bags, then you [politicize the virus],” the WHO leader said. “If you don’t want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it.”

As at Thursday there are 14,802 deaths in the US from Coronavirus.