WHO Should Have Declared COVID-19 An Emergency Much Before: Panel Report

The independent experts, in a major report on the handling of the pandemic, called for bold WHO reforms and revitalising national preparedness plans to prevent another “toxic cocktail”.

“It is critical to have an empowered WHO,” panel co-chair and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark told reporters on the launch of the report “COVID-19: Make it the Last Pandemic,” the report added.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, was allowed to evolve into a “catastrophic pandemic” that has killed more than 3.4 million people and devastated the world economy, the report said.

“The situation we find ourselves in today could have been prevented,” said Johnson Sirleaf. “It is due to a myriad of failures, gaps and delays in preparedness and response.”

Praising the “unstinting” efforts of WHO leadership and staff during the pandemic, it did not lay specific blame on China or on WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. However, it said that a WHO director-general should be limited to a single seven-year term, to avoid political pressure.