Pompeo's comments on WHO "untrue and unacceptable": Tedros

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks at the 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA), held virtually, in Geneva, Switzerland, May 19, 2020. (WHO/Handout via Xinhua)

"WHO will not be distracted by these comments, and we don't want the entire international community also to be distracted."

GENEVA, July 23 (Xinhua) -- World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said here Thursday that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's latest comments on the relations between WHO and China are "untrue and unacceptable, without any foundation."

At a routine briefing, Tedros said the sole focus of WHO is on saving lives, and that "WHO will not be distracted by these comments, and we don't want the entire international community also to be distracted."

Pompeo told some UK lawmakers in London on Tuesday that there was firm intelligence that a deal had been done to get Tedros the job of WHO director-general -- and that this had resulted in the deaths of UK citizens from coronavirus, according to a Bloomberg report.