An Associated Press (AP) investigation, published Tuesday, June 2, based on internal documents and recordings, suggests that Beijing was late in January in providing crucial data on the epidemic to WHO of coronavirus. 

According to the American news agency, WHO officials complained behind the scenes, as early as the second week of January, of major delays by China and expressed their frustration at not obtaining the information in time. they needed to assess the dangerousness of the virus. 

However, at the same time, the WHO publicly and officially praised the rapid reaction of the Chinese authorities to the coronavirus epidemic, thanking Beijing on several occasions for having shared the genetic map of the virus "immediately", and commending its transparency. 

"We only have a minimum of information" 

China has in fact waited more than a week before publishing the genetic map, or genome, of the virus, after three different government laboratories have completely decoded it. According to dozens of interviews, and internal records and documents accessed by AP, tight information controls and competition within the Chinese public health system are behind these delays. 

Chinese health officials only released the genome after a local laboratory posted it on a virology website on January 11; overtaking the authorities. Despite this, China has reportedly continued to block for at least two more weeks sending further details to WHO, according to records of several internal meetings that took place in January, before the epidemic turned into a pandemic.  

"We have only minimal information," said US epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove, now WHO technical manager for Covid-19, during an internal meeting. "Clearly it is not enough for you to do good planning." 

"We are currently at the stage where, yes, they give it to us fifteen minutes before [the information] appears on the antenna of the CCTV", the Chinese state television, regretted, during another meeting , Dr Gauden Galea, senior WHO official in China, in reference. 

The records revealed by AP also indicate that WHO officials have publicly braided laurels in China in order to obtain more information about the virus. The agency, which is required to quickly share information and alerts about an evolving crisis with member countries, does not have the power to compel a government to release its data. It can only count on the cooperation of States.  

However, Dr. Gauden Galea said, in one of the recordings, that WHO could not give in to China's willingness to validate the information before sharing it with other countries because "it does not meet obligations" of the agency. 

"We need to see the data ..." 

In an emergency, WHO teams worked together to pressure Beijing to obtain genomic sequences and detailed patient data without angering the Chinese authorities. And this, in order not to risk losing access to data and avoid causing trouble for Chinese scientists.  

During the second week of January, WHO Director of Emergency Programs Dr Michael Ryan told colleagues that it was time to "step up the gear" and exercise more. pressure on China, fearing a repeat of the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) epidemic that started in that country in 2002 and killed nearly 800 people worldwide.  

"It is exactly the same scenario: we are constantly trying to get updates from China on the situation," he said. "WHO has barely escaped unscathed given the transparency problems that have arisen in southern China." 

Dr. Michael Ryan also deplored the fact that China did not cooperate in the same way as some other countries had done in the past. "It would not happen in DR Congo and did not happen in the DRC and other places," he said, probably referring to the Ebola epidemic that started in that country in 2018. "We need to see the data ... It's absolutely vital at this point." 

It was not until January 30 that the WHO declared that the coronavirus epidemic constituted "a public health emergency of international concern". At the time, the epidemic, born in Wuhan, had more than 8,100 people infected and 170 dead, with cases of human-to-human transmission occurring outside of China, including in the United States. To date, more than 375,000 people have died from Covid-19 worldwide. 

On May 6, amid international tensions with Washington, Beijing expressed its refusal to open an international investigation into the origin of the coronavirus, as long as the Covid-19 pandemic persisted. But on May 19, the 194 WHO member countries, including China, adopted a resolution providing for an "independent assessment" of the UN agency's response to the coronavirus pandemic.  

Ten days later, President Trump, who had already deprived WHO of American funds, announced that he would end the relationship between his country and the agency, which had become one of his prime targets since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and accused of being subservient to China.  

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