Headline RoundupJanuary 19th, 2021

Independent Panel Faults WHO, China for Slow Pandemic Response

Coronavirus, World, Public Health, China, WHO

Summary from the AllSides News Team

A group of experts commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO) concluded this week that the WHO, China and other countries “lost opportunities” to take early action against the coronavirus pandemic. Experts said the WHO should have issued a global health crisis earlier; criticized China for implementing public health restrictions too late; and pointed out that other countries likely had COVID-19 cases in late January 2020 but did little about it at the time. The panel was led by former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark. COVID-19-related deaths surpassed 400,000 in the U.S. Tuesday. Right-rated sources covered the news more than left- and center-rated sources, and tended to note the Trump administration's criticisms of the probe and the WHO in general. Left- and center-rated sources overall focused more on the U.S. reaching 400,000 coronavirus deaths.

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From the Right

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

The Daily Caller

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The Daily Caller

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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...

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From the Left

China, WHO Fumbled Coronavirus Pandemic Response, Independent Panel Finds

U.S. News & World Report

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U.S. News & World Report

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CHINA AND THE WORLD Health Organization could have responded quicker and more definitively to contain the coronavirus pandemic at its outset, an independent review panel determined.

In its second interim report published Monday, the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, an impartial body established by WHO, determined that China could have been more forceful in implementing public health measures when COVID-19 cases were first discovered in Wuhan.

"What is clear to the panel is that public health measures could have been applied more forcefully by local and national health...

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From the Left

Panel: China, WHO should have acted quicker to stop pandemic

Associated Press

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Associated Press

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A panel of experts commissioned by the World Health Organization has criticized China and other countries for not moving to stem the initial outbreak of the coronavirus earlier and questioned whether the U.N. health agency should have labeled it a pandemic sooner.

In a report issued to the media Monday, the panel led by former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said there were “lost opportunities” to adopt basic public health measures as early as possible.

“What is clear to the panel is...

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