Read on Twitter
It appears criticisms of WHO's responses to coronavirus outbreak among HKers and china experts largely left unnoticed in wider western audience. Here's a thread recapping some of our criticism of WHO during the peak of the crisis in our region.
Pls note that because of our past experience with SARS abd our proximity to China, HK has been on high alert since early Jan, and almost every average citizen here has been closely following every development of the disease.
On Jan 22, coronavirus has already spread to France, Australia, Malaysia, Canada, US, Japan, Nepal, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, HK and Macao https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/jan/22/where-has-coronavirus-spread
At this point, WHO still declined to declare a global emergency. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/jan/22/coronavirus-who-steps-back-from-declaring-public-health-emergency
Between Jan 24-27, confirmed cases in China rose from 1,287 to 4,515.
Here's a report from Jan 24. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/24/chinas-hubei-province-confirms-15-more-deaths-due-to-coronavirus.html
Here's a report from Jan 24. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/24/chinas-hubei-province-confirms-15-more-deaths-due-to-coronavirus.html
And numbers sharply risen by Jan 27. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/27/china-coronavirus-death-toll-climbs-to-81-with-nearly-2900-cases-worldwide.html
By Jan 28, HK closed several ports with the mainland. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51279726
Singapore restricted travelers from Hubei also on Jan 28. This illustrates the level of alertness in Asia region, and how fast it's spreading at this moment. https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3047903/singapore-confirms-two-new-chinese-coronavirus-cases-will
Yet WHO issued this travel advisory just a day before on Jan 27. Very casual language, no mention of any quarantine procedures, when should it be performed and how. Only some rudimentary advices on entry/exit screening. https://www.who.int/ith/2019-nCoV_advice_for_international_traffic/en/
By Jan 29, some countries begin to ground flights to/from China. https://www.france24.com/en/20200129-airlines-suspend-china-flights-amid-coronavirus-fears
Only then WHO declared a global emergency, on Jan 30. Yet there's no recommendation on travel restrictions in this statement, and some very vague suggestion of preventing community transmission without any material recommendations. https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/30-01-2020-statement-on-the-second-meeting-of-the-international-health-regulations-(2005)-emergency-committee-regarding-the-outbreak-of-novel-coronavirus-(2019-ncov)
More countries began to ground flights to/from China. Here's a Jan 31 article. https://time.com/5774906/airlines-ground-flights-coronavirus/
On Feb 4, WHO decided to call for resuming flights. This is at the peak of cross-border transmission in our region. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-travel/who-working-on-recommendations-for-resuming-flights-to-china-idUSKBN1ZY1IH
On Feb 7, WHO issued a warning on global face mask shortage and recommended prioritizing for healthcare workers. The intent is good, but it told citizens to reduce use of face masks, rather than telling govts to facilitate supplies. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/07/who-warns-global-shortage-face-masks-protective-suits-coronavirus
It put undue burden on citizens, especially when most ppl elsewhere in the world who haven't been thru this wouldn't have the necessary awareness to judge when face mask is necessary.
There was no clear recommendation on when a community need to begin wearing face mask, when the virus has already spread globally and many cities are at risk of increasing community transmissions.
I'd conclude here by saying this is not a blanket dismissal of WHO, but the public needs to be aware that WHO has been quite behind the curve in its recommendations.
This is not a criticism of their research or reporting work either, but their day-to-day crisis mgmt.
This is not a criticism of their research or reporting work either, but their day-to-day crisis mgmt.
And the followings are some additional critiques in the media on the WHO's management of the coronavirus outbreak and its cozy relationship with China. https://www.vox.com/2020/2/10/21124881/coronavirus-outbreak-china-li-wenliang-world-health-organization
