VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday decried countries - without naming any - who rejected facts about the coronavirus pandemic and ignored guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Guterres addressed a special session of the 193-member U.N. General Assembly on COVID-19, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year and spread globally, so far infecting nearly 65 million people and killing nearly 1.5 million.

Dozens of world leaders have submitted pre-recorded video statements for the two-day meeting.

“From the start, the World Health Organization provided factual information and scientific guidance that should have been the basis for a coordinated global response,” Guterres said.

“Unfortunately, many of these recommendations were not followed. And in some situations, there was a rejection of facts and an ignoring of the guidance. And when countries go in their own direction, the virus goes in every direction,” he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump cut funding to the WHO earlier this year and announced plans to quit the Geneva-based body over accusations it was a puppet of China, which the WHO denied. The U.S. withdrawal would have taken effect in July next year, but U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has said he will rescind the move.

“The pandemic underscores the importance of the World Health Organization, an institution that needs to be strengthened,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Long-simmering tensions between the United States and China hit boiling point over the pandemic at the United Nations, where months of bickering between the superpowers has spotlighted Beijing’s bid for greater multilateral influence in a challenge to Washington’s traditional global influence. (Reuters)