US President Donald Trump has defended Washington’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO), which critics say led to a delayed response to a recent hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean. of the US by the WHO, which he accused of being overly influenced by China during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trump argued that the US contributed more to the WHO than other countries, especially Beijing.

“We were paying for, say, 350 million people. We were paying $500 million a year, while China was paying $39 million a year for 1.4 billion people,” Trump said.

Trump also repeated criticism of the organization’s handling of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

“On COVID, they were completely wrong,” he said.

Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the US from the WHO when he began his second term in January of last year.

Speaking of hantavirus, Trump emphasized that the pathogen “does not spread easy”.

“We’ve lived with it for years, many years, and we think we’re in very good shape. We’re very careful and Nebraska has done a fantastic job,” he added.

Today, health officials in the US state of Nebraska said 18 Americans were safely evacuated from the Dutch-flagged vessel MV Hondius after an outbreak of hantavirus on board.

Admiral Brian Christine, assistant secretary of health and head of The US Public Health Service said the risk posed by the virus to the general public remains minimal.

“Let me be very clear, the risk of hantavirus to the general public remains very, very low. The Andes variant of this virus does not spread easily and requires prolonged, close contact with someone who already has symptoms,” Christine said.

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Source: prizrenpost