Fauci Urges US To Repair Broken Ties With WHO Over Coronavirus Pandemic

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th July, 2020) Director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci urged the United States to restore ties with the UN World Health Organization (WHO), which he said is needed for the world to confront future pandemics like the current novel coronavirus crisis, according to a virtual address to students at Georgetown University.

"They are an imperfect organization. They have made mistakes, but I would like to see the mistakes corrected and for them to be much more in line with the kind of things we need," Fauci said on Tuesday. "So I hope that this kind of tension between the United States and the WHO somehow or other ultimately gets settled in a favorable way because the world does need the WHO for outbreaks like this."

US President Donald Trump has notified the WHO of the United States' plans to leave the organization, citing early mistakes by the organization such as repeating Chinese claims that the virus could be easily contained because it is not readily spread from human to human.

Conflicting reports of a purported White House memo earlier this week - denied by the Trump administration - that criticized Fauci over past advice on the novel coronavirus did not come up in the hour-long event.

However, a dearth of public briefings by the White House coronavirus task force, of which Fauci is a member, as well as the Trump administration's repeated denial of permission for Fauci to testify before Congress, continue to fuel speculation that Trump wants to fire Fauci, who otherwise enjoys some protection from presidential outrage as a civil servant, according to media reports.