World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wishes the U.S. would reconsider leaving the organization as the coronavirus continues to wage on.

Dr. Tedros made the comments Thursday in an interview NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt hosted at the Aspen Security Forum, saying that the coronavirus pandemic cannot be defeated “in a divided world.”

“The problem is not about the money, it’s not the financing that’s the issue. It’s actually the relationship with the U.S. that’s more important and its leadership abroad,” Dr. Tedros said.

The Trump administration said it would pull out of the United Nations organization by July 6, 2021, with President Trump saying the WHO misuses funding and has too close of a relationship with China.

Despite the decision, Dr. Tedros said that U.S. officials are still working with the organization on their response to the coronavirus pandemic and have been “particularly active.

“We still have communication, we’re working together and we appreciate that, but I hope the relationship will return to normal...” Tedros said.

The U.S. is the largest funder of the WHO, which has said that the loss of the country’s contributions would cost lives, CNBC reported.

Globally there are over 18.8 million positive cases of the coronavirus, with over 710,000 COVID-19 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. has over 4.8 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus and over 158,000 COVID-19 deaths.

World Health Organization boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the fight against the virus is far from over
World Health Organization boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the fight against the virus is far from over World Health Organization / Christopher Black
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