WHO revises coronavirus timeline to clarify its China office raised alert, not authorities
- UN agency staff saw media announcement about ‘viral pneumonia’ on Wuhan Health Commission website on December 31
- Information was provided by Chinese authorities on January 3, after two requests from the organisation
WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference on April 20 the first report had come from China, without specifying whether the report had been sent by Chinese authorities or another source. But a new chronology, published this week by the Geneva-based institution, offers a more detailed version of events.
It indicates that it was the WHO office in China that notified its regional point of contact on December 31 of a case of “viral pneumonia” after finding a declaration for the media on a Wuhan health commission website. On the same day, the WHO’s epidemic information service picked up another news report – from US-based international epidemiological surveillance network ProMed – about the same group of cases from unknown causes in Wuhan.
Following these reports, the WHO asked Chinese authorities twice, on January 1 and 2, for information about these cases, which was provided on January 3.
WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan told a press conference on Friday that countries have 24-48 hours to officially verify an event and provide the agency with additional information about the nature or cause of an event. He added that the Chinese authorities immediately contacted the WHO as soon as the agency asked for verification of the report.
The WHO published an initial timeline of its communications on April 9, partly in response to criticism of its early response to the outbreak that has now claimed more than 521,000 lives worldwide. In that chronology, the agency said only that cases of pneumonia were reported on December 31 by the Wuhan municipal health commission, without specifying where the notification had come from.