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In its second interim report, the Switzerland-based Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response determined that Beijing could have been more vigorous in enforcing public health measures when cases were first detected. in Wuhan City, Hubei Province.
“What is clear to the panel is that the public health measures could have been applied with more force by local and national health authorities in China in January (2020),” the report said.
The first cases in Wuhan occurred between December 12 and December 29, 2019, according to city authorities. The cases were not reported to WHO until December 31. By the time Wuhan was locked down on January 23, 2020, the virus had already spread to Japan, South Korea, Thailand and the United States.
Several countries, most vocally the United States and Australia, have accused Beijing of downplaying the severity of the outbreak in its early stages and of preventing an effective response until it is too late.
The independent panel, co-chaired by former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, also criticized the WHO for its delays in sounding the alarm and called for reforms to the United Nations agency.
Although it was alerted to the cases at the end of December 2019, the WHO did not convene its emergency committee until January 22, 2020 – then waited until January 30 before declaring an international emergency.
“It is not known why the committee did not meet before the third week of January, nor why it could not agree on the declaration of a public health emergency of international concern when it was convened. first call, ”the report says.
“Although the term pandemic is neither used nor defined in the International Health Regulations (2005), its use serves to draw attention to the seriousness of a health event,” the report said.
He concluded that the WHO “did not have the means to do the job expected of it”. WHO has “severely limited” power to validate reports of disease outbreaks for pandemic potential, or to deploy support in local areas, he said.
The international community must achieve a “global reset” on how it tackles pandemics, said the review group, which is due to present a final report to the World Health Assembly in May.
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