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Coronavirus pandemic
ChinaPeople & Culture

WHO chief calls for caution on coronavirus trade and travel bans as China lashes out at US

  • Beijing accuses Washington of spreading fear and setting a bad example for other countries with its response to the outbreak
  • Trump adviser says China has yet to respond to offers of help

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Personnel in protective clothing approach an aircraft, chartered by the US State Department to evacuate government employees and other Americans from the coronavirus threat in Wuhan, after it arrived at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, California, on Friday. Photo: Reuters
Catherine Wong
There’s no need for disease prevention measures that “unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade”, the head of the World Health Organisation stressed on Monday as China accused the US of spreading fear about a coronavirus outbreak by imposing a travel ban.
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“We call on all countries to implement decisions that are evidence-based and consistent,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the agency, told the WHO executive board.

“Global connectiveness is a weakness in this outbreak but it is also our greatest strength.”

Tedro’s call came after Beijing said Washington was spreading fear about the outbreak – which has killed more than 425 people – and had done little help to China in its time of need.

Cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed across China and in more than 25 other countries and territories, prompting various countries to close their borders with China and repatriate their citizens from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak.

But the US, which has 11 confirmed cases, has come in for the harshest criticism from China, accused of setting a “bad example” for other countries.
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