Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Wednesday April 15 2020, @08:26PM   Printer-friendly
from the the-sordid-art-of-deflection dept.

BBC: Coronavirus: US to halt funding to WHO, says Trump

US President Donald Trump has said he is going to halt funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) because it has "failed in its basic duty" in its response to the coronavirus outbreak.

[...] Mr Trump has been under fire for his own handling of the pandemic.

He has sought to deflect persistent criticism that he acted too slowly to stop the virus's spread by pointing to his decision in late January to place restrictions on travel from China.

[...] The US is the global health body's largest single funder and gave it more than $400m in 2019.

A decision on whether the US resumes funding will be made after the review, which Mr Trump said would last 60 to 90 days.

[...] China gave about $86m in 2018-19; UK gives most of any country apart from the US

[...] The organisation launched an appeal in March for $675m to help fight the pandemic and is reported to be planning a fresh appeal for at least $1bn.

Reuters: Trump halts World Health Organization funding amid coronavirus pandemic

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would halt funding to the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic while his administration reviews its response to the global crisis.

Trump told a White House news conference the WHO had “failed in its basic duty and it must be held accountable.” He said the group had promoted China’s “disinformation” about the virus that likely led to a wider outbreak of the virus than otherwise would have occurred.

[...] The hold on funding was expected. Trump has been increasingly critical of the organization as the global health crisis has continued, and he has reacted angrily to criticism of his administration’s response.

[...] U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday it was “not the time” to reduce resources for the body.

“Now is the time for unity and for the international community to work together in solidarity to stop this virus and its shattering consequences,” he said.

American Medical Association President Dr. Patrice Harris called it “a dangerous step in the wrong direction that will not make defeating COVID-19 easier” and urged Trump to reconsider.

[...] The Republican president recently accused the WHO of being too lenient with China in the earliest days of the crisis, despite having himself praised China in January for its response and transparency.

Trump has made frequent use of scapegoats during his short political career. He often lashes out at the media, Democrats, or others when he feels attacked or under pressure.

The Guardian: Trump turns against WHO to mask his own stark failings on Covid-19 crisis

Donald Trump’s declared suspension of funding of the World Health Organisation in the midst of a pandemic is confirmation – if any were needed – that he is in search of scapegoats for his administration’s much delayed and chaotic response to the crisis.

The US is the WHO’s biggest donor, with funding over $400m a year in both assessed contributions (membership fees) and donations – though it is actually $200m in arrears. [pdf]

Theoretically the White House cannot block funding of international institutions mandated by Congress. But the administration has found ways around such constitutional hurdles on other issues – by simply failing to disburse funds or apply sanctions, for example.

The funding could be formally rescinded, but that would require Senate approval, or “reprogrammed” by being diverted to another purpose that the White House could argue is consistent with the will of Congress.

[...] The WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, had to fly to Beijing to meet Xi Jinping on 29 January to negotiate entry and information sharing. A WHO team was allowed to visit Wuhan on 22 February. Tedros has been criticised for his flattery of Xi and the Chinese response, in the face of Beijing’s obstructionism and cover-up attempts. His defenders said that such diplomacy was the price for entry.

Trump did more than his own fair share of Xi flattery. On 24 January, the president tweeted “China has been working very hard to contain the coronavirus … The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency.”

The claim that the delay in the WHO acquiring samples crippled the international response is also false. Chinese scientists publicly released the genetic sequence of Covid-19 on 11 January.

[...] By early February the WHO was in a position to distribute a Covid-19 test worldwide, but the US government opted not to have it fast-tracked through approval. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) instead produced its own test at about the same time, but it was flawed and had to be recalled. US testing would be set back more than six weeks compared to the rest of the world.

While virtually no testing was under way in the US throughout February, Trump assumed the consequently low number of confirmed US cases meant that his country had somehow escaped. “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA,” he boasted on 24 February, nearly a month after the WHO declaration of emergency. “We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health [Organisation] have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!”


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 15 2020, @09:33PM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 15 2020, @09:33PM (#983238)

    Our most likely future:

    1) Everyone will need to take a mandatory vaccine. Even though the coronavirus has long been known to cause the common cold and they've never been able to vaccinate for that, this one is somehow different. It certainly is different in that it's a chimera built under Dr Fauci's guidance, but the vaccine will have nothing to do with the virus. It will, like many of Bill Gates earlier attempts at vaccines, include for many a sterilization agent. For others it will likely lead to death or severe illness. But with full indemnity built into the process for those developing and administering the vaccine, there will be no repercussions.

    2) Everyone will need to be chipped and tracked as a form of "contact tracing", which is the term du jour that Dr. Fauci has been throwing around so that everyone can become familiar with it and won't be completely frightened by the concept. What it means is that you'll be tracked everywhere, at all times, involuntarily, but only for your safety and protection. Anyone who is deemed to have come into contact with the virus will be quarantined, against their will, for 14 days.

    3) Many of those who Jared Kushner's tracking system identify as being infected with the virus will never return from quarantine. But this will only be because they succumbed to the virus and their bodies had to be incinerated, not because they were shot and dumped in a hole in the ground for being political dissidents.

    4) Anyone who thought we couldn't be turned into Nazis should at least have the hair on the back of their necks standing up at the remote prospect of this even being possible, because as of now nothing we're being told makes sense. Nothing adds up. But there's nothing to see here so please continue attacking the views of anyone who dares to challenge the prevailing dogmatic orthodoxy regarding this vaccine of totally natural origins and the benevolent case of characters putting into place the infrastructure of Fascism necessary to really clean house.

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   +2  
       Flamebait=1, Troll=1, Insightful=1, Interesting=3, Informative=1, Overrated=1, Total=8
    Extra 'Interesting' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Wednesday April 15 2020, @09:43PM (2 children)

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Wednesday April 15 2020, @09:43PM (#983247) Homepage

    Plot Twist: The Jews were the Nazis all-along!

    • (Score: 0, Flamebait) by Bot on Wednesday April 15 2020, @10:07PM (1 child)

      by Bot (3902) on Wednesday April 15 2020, @10:07PM (#983260) Journal

      Trivia: who is the actual, biological, father of the nation of Israel? A____f H____r.

      --
      Account abandoned.
      • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 15 2020, @11:23PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 15 2020, @11:23PM (#983304)

        Pretty much so, if Hitler hadn't persecuted the normal Jew, Israel would remain only as an experiment for the religious freaks. It still pretty much is, but even the non-religious are having it propped up in case they need it as their bug-out space.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 16 2020, @01:52PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 16 2020, @01:52PM (#983581)

    1) The common cold is a rhinovirus. This is coronavirus. The common cold does not kill one in a thousand who presents with symptoms. And do put your tinfoil hat back on. So much for your objection.

    2) Proof? Yeah, thought not. Contact tracing has been done for decades in this country in relation to public health and disease, in case you hadn't noticed.

    3) OK. Put your tinfoil hat back on.

    4) Yes. Fascism is entirely possible in this country at this point. But disease tracking is useful and necessary for certain diseases, and has already been implemented. Here's what CDC already tracks [medlineplus.gov]. And contact tracing has already been done, and is usually implemented at a county level. Which has always been inefficient and ineffective, but it's what has been done.

    • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday April 16 2020, @04:34PM (1 child)

      by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Thursday April 16 2020, @04:34PM (#983658) Homepage Journal

      Erm... the common cold is a bunch of different viruses all lumped together under a very unhelpful name. Yes, including some types of corona viruses.

      --
      My rights don't end where your fear begins.
      • (Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Thursday April 16 2020, @08:10PM

        by hendrikboom (1125) Subscriber Badge on Thursday April 16 2020, @08:10PM (#983769) Homepage Journal

        I seem to recall hearing that there are about a hundred viruses, any one of which could cause a common cold.
        So vaccinating against the cold wold require about a hundred vaccinations.