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America and Europe could be hit by FOUR waves of coronavirus if the virus is allowed to ravage Africa, expert warns

15 April 2020 20:13 (UTC +04:00)

America and Europe could be hit by up to four waves of coronavirus if it is allowed to ravage Africa, a WHO expert has warned, APA reports citing Daily Mail.

Director of the World Health Organisations's Center on Public Health and Human Rights, Professor Lawrence Gostin warned that if Covid-19 gets 'out of control' in African countries, Europe and the US could see second, third and even fourth waves of the illness.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Wednesday, Professor Gostin said: 'Covid-19 is about to march through sub-Saharan Africa and perhaps the Indian subcontinent like an avalanche.

'Even if the United States and Europe were to get their Covid epidemics under control, if you've got Covid rages in other parts of the world, in this interconnected society we live in, it will come back to Europe and the United States.

'And in fact I could predict that if it gets out of control in these lower income countries that we will see in the US and Europe a second, and a third wave, and even a fourth wave of Covid.

'So we're truly only as safe as the weakest link in the global chain.'

Commenting on Donald Trump's decision to freeze funding to the WHO, the professor predicted the move could have a 'devastating impact globally'.

'It's deeply concerning and dismaying that in the middle of a once-in-a-century pandemic, with tens of thousands of people dying across the world, to actually withdraw funding, or at least limit funding, to the World Health Organisation,' he said.

Trump made the drastic decision to suspend funding to the WHO while an investigation into its handling of the pandemic is carried out.

Trump singled out what he called the WHO's 'dangerous and costly decision' to argue against international travel bans to combat the pandemic.

While praising his own decision to limit travel to and from China on January 31 - a month after the first cases of the disease were reported - Trump added: 'Other nations and regions who followed WHO guidelines and kept their borders open to China, accelerated the pandemic all around the world.

'The decision of other major countries to keep travel open was one of the great tragedies and missed opportunities from the early days. The WHO's attack on travel restrictions put political correctness above lifesaving measures.'

The US is the largest single contributor to the WHO, paying in some $893million between 2018 and 2019 which made up around 15 per cent of the agency's total budget during that period.