China and WHO acted too slowly on Covid-19, pandemic response panel says
From CNN s Jessie Yeung and Sharif Paget
Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark. Getty Images
China and the World Health Organization (WHO) could have acted quicker and more forcefully to contain the start of the Covid-19 outbreak, an independent review panel said on Monday.
In its second interim report, the Switzerland-based Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response determined that Beijing could have been more vigorous in applying public health measures when cases were first detected in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei province.
The panel concluded that "many countries took minimal action to prevent the spread (of COVID-19) internally and internationally." The pandemic has killed at least 2 million people worldwide so far.