The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, investigating the global response to the coronavirus pandemic, has said that the World Health Organization and Chinese government could have acted faster.
The panel gave its observation in its second report, as reported by AFP. The panel said “public health measures could have been applied more forcefully by local and national health authorities in China in January,” the news agency reported. According to AFP, the panel also criticised WHO and pointed out that the UN health agency had not convened its emergency committee until January 22, 2020.
Covid 19 was first detected in the Chinese central city of Wuhan in late 2019.
“It is not clear why the committee did not meet until the third week of January, nor is it clear why it was unable to agree on the (PHEIC) declaration… when it was first convened,” the report added.