Two months ago, the WHO claimed that the coronavirus was not a pandemic, and claimed that it could be contained without recommending the only solution that could contain it - closing the borders to Europe.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that the coronavirus outbreak is not yet a pandemic, and—despite the growing number of cases and deaths—is hopeful that the disease’s spread can be limited, therefore containing the crisis before it could actually be considered a pandemic.
They were wrong. This is the greatest health crisis in the 21st century and they got it completely wrong. They backed the wrong horse, climate change. Does obsession with the climate lead to neglect on real issues? Most likely, yes.
They are not fit for purpose and should be replaced.
Forbes, Feb 4
ReplyDelete"We are not in a pandemic,” said WHO Infections Hazards Director Dr. Sylvia Briand during a Tuesday press conference, adding that the group considers the coronavirus an epidemic at this time. Key background: More than 20,000 people are confirmed to have been infected with coronavirus, while nearly 427 have died, with all but two in mainland China. The U.S. has 11 confirmed cases, and flights from China are being redirected to 11 American airports that are screening those travelers."
Confirmation from European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
Covid-19 totals for all-China on Feb 4: Cases -> 20448; Deaths -> 426
Forbes, Feb 4
"WHO classifies a pandemic as the “worldwide spread of a new disease,” while an epidemic is defined by an unusually high number of cases of either an illness or health-related event in a community or region."
The Guardian Fri 10 Apr 2020
ReplyDeleteThe WHO v coronavirus: why it can't handle the pandemic
Unlike international bodies such as the World Trade Organization, the WHO, which is a specialised body of the UN, has no ability to bind or sanction its members. Its annual operating budget, about $2bn in 2019, is smaller than that of many university hospitals, and split among a dizzying array of public health and research projects. The WHO is less like a military general or elected leader with a strong mandate, and more like an underpaid sports coach wary of “losing the dressing room”, who can only get their way by charming, grovelling, cajoling and occasionally pleading with the players to do as they say.
The WHO “has been drained of power and resources”, said Richard Horton, editor of the influential medical journal the Lancet. “Its coordinating authority and capacity are weak. Its ability to direct an international response to a life-threatening epidemic is non-existent.”
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/apr/10/world-health-organization-who-v-coronavirus-why-it-cant-handle-pandemic
The WHO was able to warn about 250,000 deaths per year from climate change. Why couldn't it estimate deaths from a highly transmittable virus in a world with no borders?
DeleteThe doctor who tried to warn the world about the virus on the 30th January 2019 was arrested and forced to sign a retraction. He later died allegedly from Corona virus. There is not one recorded case on the virus in China's capital city Beijing. Between 30th December 2019 and the travel ban, innocent infected Chinese people were traveling by air all over the world. 95% of all the deaths and costs could have been prevented had the Chinese government been honest.
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