WHO Chief Denounces Pompeo Comments As ‘Untrue’, ‘Unacceptable’

The head of the World Health Organization said Thursday that the remarks made by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo regarding his integrity were false and would not deter the group from its efforts in the battle against coronavirus.

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been criticized, in particular by US President Donald Trump and Pompeo. They accused him of being pro-China.

“And the comments are untrue and unacceptable and without any foundation, for that matter,” Tedros said in response to a question at a Geneva briefing about remarks by Pompeo reported in London on Tuesday, reports Reuters.

“Our sole focus - and the focus of the entire organisation - is on saving lives. ...And WHO will not be distracted by these comments. We don’t want the international community also to be distracted.”

The WHO Advanced Team has been in China for almost two weeks, coordinating a WHO-led multinational team to identify the source of the virus. Scientists claim that the food industry in the central city of Wuhan originated late last year.

“We are already beginning to reach out to experts at the international level to see who will be available and most appropriate to be able to support an international mission in the coming weeks,” Mike Ryan, WHO’s top emergencies expert, said.

Tedros said the WHO was seeing intense transmission of the coronavirus in relatively few countries.

“Two-thirds of all cases are from 10 countries. Almost half of all cases reported so far are from just three countries,” he said, referring to the United States, Brazil and India.

Worldwide more than 15 million cases have been reported and nearly 620,000 deaths, he said.

Recorded U.S. coronavirus infections exceeded 4 million on Thursday, with more than 2,600 new infections every hour on average, the highest rate in the world according to the Reuters tally.

Infections in the United States have increased steadily since the first outbreak of COVID-19 was detected on January 21. It took the country 98 days to get to 1 million cases. It took another 43 days to hit 2 million, then 27 days to achieve 3 million.

It has only taken 16 days to reach 4 million at a rate of 43 new cases a minute.

Tedros said that even because situations can be at a small point where someone stays, that doesn't imply they 're going to put their guard down.

 “Know your situation - do you know how many cases were reported where you live yesterday? Do you know how to find that information? Do you know how to minimize your exposure?”