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Updated April 10th, 2020 at 14:55 IST

Mike Pence vows to hold WHO accountable for diminishing coronavirus threat

Mike Pence reportedly vowed to hold officials at the World Health Organisation (WHO) accountable for having allegedly diminished the threat of coronavirus.

Reported by: Bhavya Sukheja
Mike Pence
| Image:self
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The United States Vice President Mike Pence reportedly vowed to hold officials at the World Health Organisation (WHO) accountable for having allegedly diminished the threat of coronavirus. While speaking to an international media outlet, Pence blamed WHO for having ‘been so wrong’ when it came to the pandemic. He reportedly said that the US President Donald Trump believes in accountability and at the right time in future, the authorities are going to ask ‘tough questions’ about how WHO could have been so wrong. 

The Vice President reportedly said that Trump stood up the coronavirus task force in January and suspended all travels from China, however, WHO continued to diminish the threat of coronavirus and its impact in China. He further added that the US will create accountability, just like Americans would want them to do. He reiterated his promise to get ‘get the answers’ behind the organisation’s initial guidelines surrounding the pandemic. 

READ: Donald Trump Claims Russia, Saudi Arabia 'close To Reaching A Deal' As Oil Prices Plummet

Trump slams WHO

Pence's comments came after Trump lashed out at WHO over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. In his daily briefing at the White House, Trump accused WHO of lying and said that the global health body made a statement on January 14 that there was no human-to-human transmission of Coronavirus, while there was. He added that in many ways, ‘they (WHO) were wrong’.

Trump said, "World Health Organization made a statement on January 14 that there was no human-to-human transmission, while there was. They criticized me very strongly when I said that we were going to shut down flights coming in from China. On many ways, they were wrong”. 

READ: Donald Trump Calls Mail-in Ballots 'ripe For Fraud' As COVID-19 Worries Loom Over US Polls

Earlier this week, Trump also accused the organisation of becoming ‘China-centric’ during the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic and said he would put a hold on America's funding to WHO. Trump said his administration is going to look into the US funding to the WHO. 

While speaking at the daily briefing, Trump added, ”We give a majority of the money that they get, and it's much more than the USD 58 million. USD 58 million is a small portion of what they've got over the years. Sometimes they get much more than that. Sometimes it's for programs that they're doing, and it's much bigger numbers. If the programs are good, that's great as far as we're concerned”.

READ: Donald Trump Says 'ten Drugs Are In Clinical Trial' For COVID-19 Treatment In US

READ: Donald Trump Says He Has 'no Objection' With Europe's Medical Aid To Iran

(Image source: AP)

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Published April 10th, 2020 at 15:05 IST

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