\n\n“The SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the disease swept across the globe not because of the WHO\u2019s errors but because of a \u201cvery fragmented, chaotic, state-centric response,\u201d according to Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now, with over 2 million reported cases and 125,000 deaths worldwide, countries \u201cfailing in their response have decided WHO is the culprit,\u201d says Ashish Jha, a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Most experts agree there are some legitimate criticisms of how the agency has handled the Covid-19 global health crisis, particularly in how it responded to China\u2019s initial delays and suppression of key information. Other critiques, they say, are less founded.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“On January 22<\/a>, just three weeks after first being notified of the virus\u2019s existence, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus convened an emergency meeting to determine if the outbreak qualified as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), the agency\u2019s term for an \u201cextraordinary event\u201d that requires a coordinated international response \u2014 like SARS, H1N1, and Ebola outbreaks in 2014 and 2019. The experts couldn\u2019t agree and decided to meet again. After the director-general traveled to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on January 29, a PHEIC was declared on January 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This declaration activated WHO measures to \u201caddress travel, trade, quarantine, screening, treatment\u201d as well as national measures in countries that have tied their pandemic response plans to WHO declarations. \u201cI called for WHO to do it a little earlier,\u201d says Gostin, \u201cbut it had no impact on the epidemic.\u201d Jha agrees. \u201cI think they could have called it when they initially met, but it wouldn\u2019t have made a big difference,\u201d he says.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n …<\/p>\n\n\n\n “all the experts Vox interviewed agreed that the US government\u2019s lack of preparation for Covid-19 was not a result of WHO delays.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n …<\/p>\n\n\n\n “ABC News reports US intelligence agencies warned<\/a> the White House and the Pentagon of the disease as early as November. In January, trade adviser Peter Navarro warned<\/a> the White House that the novel coronavirus could kill half a million Americans. In February, the US lost valuable weeks<\/a> failing to develop effective testing. As late as February 27, Trump told<\/a> a press briefing the virus would \u201cdisappear.\u201d The next day, the first American died<\/a> of Covid-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWHO is not responsible for America not heeding the warnings of its own scientists and security apparatus \u2014 for two months,\u201d says Jha. \u201cThat\u2019s laughable.\u201d” <\/p>\n\n\n\n …<\/p>\n\n\n\n “WHO has offered little criticism of governments\u2019 responses.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n …<\/p>\n\n\n\n “More than 430,000<\/a> people traveled from China to over 17 American cities after the virus was discovered but before the ban; another 40,000<\/a> people arrived to the US from China after the ban went into place.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n …<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Although the WHO has not publicly criticized the American travel ban, it doesn\u2019t recommend travel or trade restrictions during disease outbreaks, both because they often don\u2019t work and because they can make disease response more difficult. Kamradt-Scott recalls firsthand his difficulty in trying to get from Australia to West Africa during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, when all but two commercial airlines had stopped flying there. \u201cIt\u2019s not simply that it causes economic damage, but that it impedes responses,\u201d he says. ” <\/p>\n\n\n\n …<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Kamradt-Scott, however, is on the fence. He has just completed a literature review, looking at travel and trade restrictions, and his view is that travel bans \u201cmay have helped delay the arrival of the virus.\u201d He predicts that eventually Covid-19 research will cause the WHO to revisit some of its guidelines. \u201cIt\u2019s rather fraught. It does create economic problems, but if it can help countries by giving them time to prepare, perhaps it can be justified on that ground.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, he adds, \u201cTrump implemented travel restrictions but then did nothing to prepare the country, so again, that really comes back to his administration.\u201d”<\/p>\n\n\n\n