World Health Organization chief regrets US decision to pull funding

• WHO was still assessing the impact and would "try to fill any gaps with partners", Tedros said.
• "We regret the decision of the President of the United States to order a halt in the funding to the WHO."

GENEVA: The head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday that he regretted President Trump's decision to pull funding for the organisation, but called on world unity to fight the new coronavirus pandemic.

"The United States of America has been a long-standing and generous friend of the WHO and we hope it will continue to be so," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference. "We regret the decision of the President of the United States to order a halt in the funding to the WHO."

WHO was still assessing the impact and would "try to fill any gaps with partners", Tedros said. But now was the time for the world to be united in its common struggle against the outbreak, which he described as a "dangerous enemy."