According to the World Health Organization (WHO), China was not the first to inform them about COVID-19. Apparently, the Chinese government has failed to say anything, and it was WHO's Chinese office who first got word about the virus. Even the first Wuhan case was not informed.
While the outbreak claimed thousands of lives all over the world, US President Donald Trump lambasted the WHO for their lack of vigilance to prevent the spread of the pandemic. Another is WHO's alleged leniency when it comes to dealing with China. The WHO vehemently denied all of these allegations, as reported by Japan Times.
Last April 9, questions about the timeline from the first detection to the most recent was published. The continuously rising death toll and how it dealt with was the subject of scrutiny by leaders from all over the globe.
It is widely-acknowledged that the first victim of the coronavirus was detected on December 31, initially thought to be pneumonia. However, according to Medical Express, WHO did not identify who their source was.
On April 20, the WHO boss chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus held a conference to shed light on the origins of coronavirus. Ghebreyesus told a news conference on April 20 that the first report had come from China, but not from the Chinese government. A recently published timeline will discuss finer points and details about how it spread earlier on January.
The updated timeline
On December 31, the WHO office in China claimed that a case of viral pneumonia was reported by the Wuhan health commission. It was not yet verified, but some implied that early whistleblowers may have been involved. Several of the whistleblowers disappeared without a trace.
The same day, the WHO's epidemic information registered a report sent by the international epidemiological surveillance network ProMed. This US-based company notified WHO about the multiple cases of unusual pneumonia found in Wuhan patients.
Soon after, the WHO requested for more information from the Chinese authorities about the cases from Jan 1 and 2. They finally got the answers on January 3
According to WHO, emergencies director Michael Ryan clarified that there are 24-48 hours to acknowledge any event. This gives enough time to get all the pertinent data ready for documentation.
He added that the Chinese called the WHO when it requested confirmation on the report. Continued deference to China has made President Trump doubt WHO and severe ties with the organization.
He perceived the WHO as too compliant with China and claimed it had a bad record of dealing with the pandemic. However, WHO leaders denied these allegations.
Trials for a coronavirus vaccine
Last Friday, Tedros mentioned that results from various trials for vaccines will available soon. Several drugs are undergoing studies to determine if they will work.
The Solidarity trial that involves 5500 patients in 39 countries that might yield a possible vaccine soon, according to Reuters. He added in two weeks' time, there will be enough data to study.
Involved in the trials are Remdesivir, Hydroxychloroquines, Lopinavir, and Ritonavir that is used with Interferon. According to Ryan, for now, it's hard to predict how long the vaccine trials will run to finally find a suitable candidate.
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