The World Health Organization said it registered the most new coronavirus cases since the pandemic began as countries begin to reemerge from lockdowns.
The WHO said Wednesday there were about 106,000 new COVID-19 cases tallied during the past day, the largest increase since the novel coronavirus emerged in China late last year. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pointed out the difficulties that developing countries are having with the virus.
“We still have a long way to go in this pandemic,” Tedros said, according to Reuters. “We are very concerned about rising cases in low- and middle-income countries.”
The United States froze funding to the WHO amid backlash from President Trump and his administration over how the global health body handled the start of the coronavirus pandemic and its relationship with China. Trump suggested Saturday that the U.S. might only fund the World Health Organization to 10% of what it paid prior to the hold. In a letter to Tedros, the president threatened to block funding to the WHO permanently unless it makes “substantive changes.”
WHO member counties voted unanimously to approve a resolution calling for an “independent” review of the organization’s handling of the start of the pandemic.
“I said it time and time again that WHO calls for accountability more than anyone. It has to be done, and when it’s done, it has to be a comprehensive one,” Tedros said about the review.
