WHO official slams Trump’s 'incoherent' comments on coronavirus

A World Health Organization (WHO) has said that he found US President Donald Trump's remarks during a news conference on his administration's response to the coronavirus outbreak a "little incoherent."

Trump on Wednesday said it was "not inevitable" that the coronavirus would continue to spread in the United States, even as infections increase around the world.

The coronavirus has killed at least 2,800 people worldwide, the vast majority in China. There have been more than 82,000 global cases with infections in dozens of other countries, raising fears of a pandemic.

"I don't think it's inevitable. I think that there's a chance that it could get worse, a chance it could get fairly substantially worse, but nothing's inevitable," Trump told reporters at the White House.

Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, special adviser to the director general of the WHO, said that Trump's comments indicated how little the president knew about public health.

He also pointed out that health officials still do not know vital information about the deadly virus, which has also affected at least 60 people in the United States.

"I found most of what he said a little incoherent," Emanuel said, pointing to Trump's admission that he was shocked by the number of people who die from the common flu annually.

"You know, [Trump's] a guy that admitted that he’s surprised that 25,000 to 69,000 people each year die of the flu. That just tells you how little he actually knows about public health and about the health of the American public," he added. "He just revealed how ignorant he is about the situation. We don’t know how similar or dissimilar this is to the flu.”

"We know one thing. It is actually more communicable than the flu. It passes between people very, very easily."

The comments came amid warnings that a coronavirus outbreak in the US was "inevitable" as lawmakers dubbed Trump's emergency funding request insufficient.  

Trump said that his administration is "ready to adapt" if the disease spread, emphasizing, “we’re very, very ready for this.” But he contradicted officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), saying that he did not think the spread of coronavirus was "inevitable."

Saudi Arabia suspends Umrah pilgrimage for fear of COVID-19

Saudi Arabia says it has temporarily suspended Umrah pilgrimage over concerns of the spread of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia says it has temporarily suspended entry for individuals aiming to perform Umrah pilgrimage or to visit the Prophet's Mosque in Medina over concerns of the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia tweeted early Thursday that the temporary suspension of Umrah is a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of the new disease.

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