US, Europe could face FOUR waves of outbreak if coronavirus is allowed to take hold in Africa or Asia: WHO
The US and Europe could be hit by up to four waves of the novel coronavirus if the disease is allowed to take hold in Africa and the Indian subcontinent, a WHO expert has warned.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today program, Professor Lawrence Gostin, director of the WHO's Center on Public Health and Human Rights, said the pandemic was about to march through sub-Saharan Africa and maybe the Indian subcontinent "like an avalanche."
If allowed to do so, it could have devastating consequences for the rest of the Western world even if they brought it under control within their borders, professor Gostin said.
"Covid-19 is about to march through sub-Saharan Africa and perhaps the Indian subcontinent like an avalanche. Even if the United States and Europe were to get their Covid epidemics under control, if you've got Covid rages in other parts of the world, in this interconnected society we live in, it will come back to Europe and the United States," he explained.
"And, in fact, I could predict that if it gets out of control in these lower-income countries that we will see in the US and Europe a second, and a third wave, and even a fourth wave of Covid," he continued. "So we're truly only as safe as the weakest link in the global chain."
Gostin also addressed the US' decision to withdraw its funding for the WHO over the organization's perceived leniency towards China and the Chinese Communist Party over their handling of the pandemic and said it could have a "devastating impact globally."
"It's deeply concerning and dismaying that in the middle of a once-in-a-century pandemic, with tens of thousands of people dying across the world, to actually withdraw funding, or at least limit funding, to the World Health Organization."
Trump has announced he would be directing his administration to halt funding the WHO on Tuesday, April 14 for reportedly mishandling the pandemic.
"Today I’m instructing my administration to stop funding of the WHO while a review is conducted to assess the WHO’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus," he said.
The move came just a week after he accused the organization of having "called it wrong" and being "China-centric," and threatened to slash its funding.
"They called it wrong, they called it wrong. They missed the call. They could have called it months earlier," he said. "They would have known and they should have known and they probably did know. So we’ll be looking into that very carefully and we’re going to put a hold on money spent [sic] to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it and we’re going to see. It’s a great thing if it works but when they call every shot wrong, it’s not good."
Bill Gates, who is currently funding an effort to develop a vaccine for COVID-19, also criticized the de-funding on Twitter, writing, "Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds."
"Their work is slowing the spread of COVID-19 and if that work is stopped no other organization can replace them."