French daily says Washington's WHO fund-freeze puts world in danger

The White House's decision to halt its funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) has weakened international cooperation and put the entire world in danger, French newspaper Le Monde has said in an editorial.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his administration is suspending funding to the WHO, at a time when the specialized United Nations (UN) agency for international public health is coordinating a global response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Washington "is particularly badly placed to decide to punish the WHO," Le Monde said on Thursday, adding that "suspending its funding to WHO in the middle of the battle against a global health crisis is the worst idea a political leader can have."

To cover up their own "errors in judgment," the Trump administration wants to make the country's voters believe that China and the WHO are responsible for the tragedy that is striking the United States, the newspaper added.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States reached 700,282 as of 9:10 p.m. local time on Friday (0110 GMT on Saturday), according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

A total of 36,822 people have died of the disease in the country, according to the CSSE.

The United States currently tops the world in total cases and deaths, with the state of New York suffering the most with 230,579 cases and 17,131 fatalities.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)