WHO countries unanimously approve ‘independent’ investigation of coronavirus response

The World Health Organization’s member nations unanimously approved a resolution calling for an “impartial” and “independent” investigation of the agency’s widely criticized response to the coronavirus outbreak during Tuesday’s meeting of the World Health Assembly. The resolution, the result of a weekslong effort by Australia calling for a review of the WHO's shortcomings regarding the pandemic, was supported by the European Union, the United Kingdom, a coalition of African countries, and others. The resolution does not make specific mention of China, where the coronavirus originated, a country that has engaged in a pressure campaign against the Australian government after it ratcheted up criticisms of the Chinese Communist Party.

The seven-page call to action, which passed without objection by the 194 member states during the second day of the 73rd World Health Assembly's virtual meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, was not as robust as what Australia originally sought, but it still called for WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to allow for multiple reviews of the actions the WHO had taken as the coronavirus spread. It is not immediately clear what form the “independent” investigation will take. The WHO’s member states called upon Tedros to “initiate, at the earliest appropriate moment, and in consultation with Member States, a stepwise process of impartial, independent, and comprehensive evaluation … to review experience gained and lessons learned from the WHO-coordinated international health response to COVID-19.” The resolution called for an investigation of “the actions of WHO and their timelines pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic.” The head of the WHO was also told to evaluate the functioning of the WHO’s International Health Regulations, which critics say both China and the WHO violated during their coronavirus responses.

There is evidence that China covered up the coronavirus's spread, muzzled whistleblowers, intimidated doctors, misled the WHO, and blocked outside health experts. Studies indicated that if China had acted faster, the global spread would've been greatly reduced. It was reported that China knew around late December that human-to-human transmission was occurring, but on Jan. 14, the WHO tweeted that “Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission.” Tedros and the WHO have repeatedly praised China's coronavirus response. Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, the head of the House’s China Initiative, argued this month that the WHO failed to follow its own rules as China tried to cover up the coronavirus outbreak, saying that “the organization meant to implement these rules, the WHO, blindly followed the CCP delaying necessary action to protect people around the globe.”

The WHA resolution also called on the WHO to continue working with the World Organization for Animal Health, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and countries “to identify the zoonotic source of the virus and the route of introduction to the human population, including the possible role of intermediate hosts.” The stated goal is to “prevent SARS-COV-2 infection in animals and humans” and to “prevent the establishment of new zoonotic reservoirs, as well as to reduce further risks of emergence and transmission of zoonotic diseases.” A senior intelligence official told the Washington Examiner this month that a majority of U.S. spy agencies believe the coronavirus likely originated as an accidental escape from a Wuhan lab rather than stemming from a nearby wet market as has been widely speculated. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said there is "enormous evidence" pointing to a lab escape. The U.S. intelligence community is investigating the coronavirus origins, but China has blocked most outside inquiries. The Tuesday WHA vote came shortly after President Trump released a Monday night letter to Tedros threatening a “permanent” halt of U.S. funding to the WHO unless “substantive changes” are made within 30 days. Trump pointed to the WHO’s many missteps and specifically noted the organization’s "alarming lack of independence from the People’s Republic of China.”

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/who-countries-unanimously-approve-independent-investigation-of-coronavirus-response

https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA73/A73_CONF1Rev1-en.pdf