US President Donald Trump sharply criticised the World Health Organisation, accusing it of being too focused on China and issuing bad advice during the new coronavirus outbreak and saying he would put a hold on US funding for the agency.

“The WHO really blew it,” Trump said in a Twitter post. “For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China-centric. We will be giving that a good look."

Trump repeated the accusations against the health organisation at a White House news briefing later in the day.