On Jan. 14, WHO tweeted that “preliminary investigations” by Chinese authorities had found no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus. Several days later, it reported “limited” human-to-human transmission, although it downplayed the finding as typical of respiratory illnesses. So, the WHO endorsed China’s narrative during the crucial early days of its cover-up.
Then, the WHO declined to call the outbreak in China a public health emergency of international concern on Jan. 22, at the same time there were confirmed cases in Taiwan, Australia, Japan, Thailand, and South Korea. After the WHO finally declared the emergency, it proceeded to drag its feet on declaring a pandemic, waiting until March 12.
One of the worst things China did was seal off Hubei province from the rest of the country while flights continued around the world. Was the WHO concerned about that? No, it was fully on board. As a headline in Reuters put it in early February, “WHO chief says widespread travel bans not needed to beat China virus.”
In the course of issuing stern warnings against travel restrictions, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus opined that if “it weren’t for China, the number of cases outside China would have been very much higher.” At the time, a Chinese official harshly criticized travel restrictions, reminding everyone that “all these measures are seriously against recommendation by the WHO.”
Incredibly enough, in late January, Tedros was praising Chinese officials for “the transparency they have demonstrated.” A team of experts lauded China’s response after a mid-February visit to Wuhan, contributing to Beijing’s storyline that it succeeded in containing the virus where everyone else has failed. Despite the emerging consensus that China has lied about its number of cases and deaths, and despite China’s refusal to share key information about the virus, WHO hasn’t said a discouraging word about China’s actions.