Health officials in Taiwan say they warned the World Health Organization in December 2019 that the coronavirus could be passed via human-to-human contact, but the organization ignored its warnings, possibly due to its relationship with China, where the virus originated.
The Financial Times reported Friday that Taiwan made the claim, insisting the WHO didn’t communicate the possible ease of transmission early enough. Taiwan, the Times noted, “is excluded from the WHO because China, which claims it as part of its territory, demands that third countries and international bodies to not treat it in any way that resembles how independent states are treated.”
The Taiwanese health officials said doctors in the country learned that medical staff on mainland China were getting ill, suggesting human-to-human contact was possible. Officials in Taipei said they reported the information at the end of December 2019. Taiwanese government officials who spoke to the Times said their warnings were not shared by the WHO.
“While the [International Health Regulations’] internal website provides a platform for all countries to share information on the epidemic and their response, none of the information shared by our country’s [Centers for Disease Control] is being put up there,” Taiwan Vice President Chen Chien-jen told the Times. “The WHO could not obtain first-hand information to study and judge whether there was human-to-human transmission of Covid-19. This led it to announce human-to-human transmission with a delay, and an opportunity to raise the alert level both in China and the wider world was lost.” – READ MORE
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