'What can one conclude from this timeline? It took WHO just 4 days to inform the world about the existence of this new atypical pneumonia...On Jan 14, the possibility of human-to-human transmission was raised by @mvankerkhove at a WHO press briefing... https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30969-7/fulltext

'Chinese experts from Beijing visited Wuhan to investigate the outbreak & were followed, on Jan 20–21, by a team from @WHO...Human-to-human transmission was eventually confirmed by Jasper Fuk-Woo Chan & colleagues, in a paper published in The Lancet on Jan 24...

The IHR (International Health Regs set by countries) Emergency Committee met on Jan 22–23. After a split vote, they reconvened on Jan 30 & concluded that the outbreak fulfilled criteria for a PHEIC, which Dr Tedros duly declared the same day.

PHEIC = public health emergency of international concern. This thread contains excerpts from from @richardhorton1's piece, which includes other salient details & raises good questions. Saving lives & ending the #COVID19 pandemic requires science & facts.