By Tara Rippin • Published: 07 Apr 2020 • 17:32
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is in the firing line amid criticisms of the way China’s reporting of the Covid-19 crisis was managed.
US politicians are arguing he should resign for trusting the communist regime’s official reporting about the spread of the disease.
Republican Senator Martha McSally called it a “cover up,” and told Fox News that the WHO boss should take some of the blame for a lack of transparency on China’s part, which she said “caused unnecessary deaths around America and around the world.”
The senator said “Tedros deceived the world… and even praised China’s ‘transparency’ during its coronavirus response efforts.”
In February, when China reported 17,238 infections and 361 deaths, Tedros said there was no need to impose travel restrictions, adding measures that “unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade” were not needed in trying to halt the spread of the virus.
On March 20, he praised the Chinese regime, saying or “the first time, China has reported no domestic Covid-19 cases yesterday… an amazing achievement.”
China has been accused of playing down its official virus cases, with some estimates suggesting their death toll could be as high as 40,000.
The officially figures are more than 81,000 cases with over 3,300 deaths.
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Tara Rippin is a reporter for Spain’s largest English-speaking newspaper, Euro Weekly News, and is responsible for the Costa Blanca region. She has been in journalism for more than 20 years, having worked for local newspapers in the Midlands, UK, before relocating to Spain in 1990. Since arriving, the mother-of-one has made her home on the Costa Blanca, while spending 18 months at the EWN head office in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol. She loves being part of a community that has a wonderful expat and Spanish mix, and strives to bring the latest and most relevant news to EWN’s loyal and valued readers.
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