/ 13 May 2021

Pandemic ‘preventable’

And that sound you can hear is a global cry of “argh”…  That’s the take of the independent panel assembled by the World Health Organization to look into the origins of the coronavirus. China picked it up early and reported it, the panel says. But the WHO and global governments were too slow to respond, and that saw COVID take off via “weak links at every point in the chain”. Calling the pandemic this century’s “Chernobyl moment”, the report says the world wasted February last year and saw the virus take hold. And it could happen again unless there is reform – one suggestion is to create a “global health threats council” to stay sharp. The panel was assembled after Australia and other countries pushed for its formation (incurring the wrath of China…). More than 3.3 million people have died of COVID during the pandemic.

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