Even as the world wages a grim war on Covid19, a pandemic fast turning into a millennial scourge, astounding details continue to emerge of the World Health Organization’s sluggish, almost reluctant, response, raising serious questions about the WHO’s accountability towards the global community.
From the facts that have emerged till now it is evident that the WHO failed to correctly estimate the danger posed by the Novel Coronavirus which first surfaced in Wuhan, China. This is substantiated by the organisation’s initial claim that there was no human-to-human transmission despite growing evidence to the contrary; its early advisories against restrictions on travel and trade; and, its reluctance to declare #Covid19 a global pandemic. As a result, crucial time to prevent the spread and prepare for the pandemic was lost.
This timeline of the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus aims to understand WHO’s intervention strategy – from its inexplicable passivity following the initial cases in Wuhan to the declaration of Covid19 as a pandemic.
The author is a Junior Fellow at Observer Research Foundation (ORF). Views are personal.
This article was first published by ORF.