A panel of independent experts commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a scathing rebuke of the global reaction to COVID-19, calling the outbreak a “preventable disaster” and a “terrible wake-up call” that exposed weak links along the entire chain of pandemic preparation and response.
In a report issued on May 12 (pdf), the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response blamed countries worldwide for their sluggish response to the outbreak of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, saying most waited to see how the virus was spreading until it was too late to contain it, leading to catastrophic results.
The group also took aim at the lack of global leadership and restrictive international health laws that “hindered” the WHO’s response to the pandemic. Some experts criticized the panel for failing to hold the WHO and others accountable for their actions, describing that as “an abdication of responsibility.”
Lawrence Gostin of Georgetown University said the panel “fails to call out bad actors like China, perpetuating the dysfunctional WHO tradition of diplomacy over frankness, transparency, and accountability.”
The controversy centers on the fact that Chinese officials knew in early December 2019 that the virus had appeared in Wuhan, but they sat on the information for six weeks, arresting those who tried to warn of the danger and accusing them of spreading “rumors.” The regime’s rigorous censorship apparatus was deployed to prevent media coverage and to delete any mentions of the virus from social media.
“As with SARS, the first response was denial,” The Epoch Times editorial board wrote in a piece explaining why it opted to use the term “CCP virus” in reference to the pathogen that causes the disease COVID-19.
BY TOM OZIMEK
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