Washington's WHO decision challenged as G7 leaders discuss joint response to COVID-19

WASHINGTON - Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries have discussed efforts to combat COVID-19 and launch an economic recovery, the White House said on Thursday.

In a statement, the White House said that G7 leaders agreed to take essential measures to ensure a coordinated global response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to launch a robust recovery.

"G7 leaders also discussed efforts to pool their research and talent to combat COVID-19 by sharing all relevant epidemiologic data and emerging best practices, making research data and results publicly available, and providing access to the world's most powerful supercomputing resources," it said.

The statement added that the leaders also touched upon the role of the World Health Organization (WHO) during the pandemic.

"Much of the conversation centered on the lack of transparency and chronic mismanagement of the pandemic by the WHO," it said.

However, the remarks of German Chancellor Angela Merkel during the video conference revealed that no consensus has been reached in this regard among G7 leaders.

In a statement issued by Germany's federal government, Merkel told attendees that the crisis could only be tackled with a strong and coordinated international response, expressing her full support for the WHO and similar international groups.

US President Donald Trump has faced intense criticism at home and abroad over his decision to withhold the nation's funding to the WHO in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in US Congress, on Wednesday called the decision "senseless," as the WHO is leading the global fight against COVID-19.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States topped 660,000 as of Thursday evening with more than 32,000 deaths, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.