The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response has criticized World Health Organization and Beijing of not taking faster measures when Covid-19 first surfaced in China.
In its second report, an evaluation of the "chronology of the early phase of the outbreak suggests that there was potential for early signs to have been acted on more rapidly".
Covid-19 that led to Global havoc was first detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019, costing more than two million lives and eviscerating economies.
In its report, the panel found it was "clear" that "public health measures could have been applied more forcefully by local and national health authorities in China in January."
The panel also criticised WHO for dragging its feet at the start of the crisis, pointing out that the UN health agency had not convened its emergency committee until January 22, 2020. And the committee failed to agree to declare the novel coronavirus outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) -- its highest alert level -- until a week later.
The WHO came under especially fierce attack from then US President Donald Trump, who accused the organisation of botching its handling of the pandemic and of being a "puppet of China".
