Coronavirus latest: Trump attacks WHO as US death toll tops 90,000
- WHO promises independent inquiry into outbreak as Trump threatens permanent freeze on US funding in 30 days
- French and German leaders propose €500 billion EU recovery package; Brazil jumps to third in Covid-19 cases worldwide
Global markets surged as Europe pushed towards normality with major landmarks reopening after a two-month hiatus, and as China told the World Health Organisation (WHO) it would back an independent inquiry into the handling of the outbreak once the pandemic is “brought under control”.
“If the WHO does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the WHO permanent and reconsider our membership in the organisation,” Trump told WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a letter posted on Twitter.
Trump, who has called the WHO a “puppet of China”, said in a tweet that the letter was “self-explanatory”.
Nearly 4.8 million people have tested positive and 316,000 have been killed by the disease since it was first detected in Wuhan, China late last year. The US death toll from Covid-19 climbed over 90,000 on Monday as more states and cities announced plans to slowly reopen their economies and test their residents.