China, WHO Could Have Acted Sooner To Prevent Pandemic, COVID-19 Probe Finds

China and the World Health Organization (WHO) could have acted sooner to combat the coronavirus, a WHO panel on the origins of the disease in China reportedly announced Monday.

The WHO-backed Independent Panel on Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPPR) announced the finding in its latest report on the timeline of the pandemic, according to WION News. The WHO reportedly convened the IPPPR in July 2020 to investigate the timeline of the coronavirus pandemic.

President Donald Trump’s administration has been heavily critical of the probe, with the White House describing the investigation as “ridiculous” and “too late.” The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) also delayed the probe’s visit to China by two weeks in early January and has prevented the researchers from gathering their own samples. The panel’s reported finding comes weeks after the WHO probe’s earlier pledge to not find a “guilty” party in the COVID-19 pandemic.