False: World Health Organisation supported false Chinese government propaganda that the coronavirus was not contagious among humans.

By: Madhukar PB
May 16 2020

Share Article:

The WHO only dispensed information that was officially provided to it by China, which had not warned of the coronavirus contagiousness in time.The World Health Organisation had tweeted that preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities had found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of COVID-19. On 14 January 2020, Reuters had quoted the acting head of WHO Emerging Disease Unit Maria Van Kerkhove who had stated that there was a possibility of limited human-to-human transmission based on the information that they had. It was clear there was no sustained human-to-human transmission. Associated Press News had reported that China did not warn the public of the pandemic for 6 key days. It was done only on the seventh day by Chinese President Xi Jinping after 3,000 people had been infected. WHO had been stating the facts based on the inputs that were provided from various sources and also from the development of events over time. The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a lot of potentially dangerous misinformation. For reliable advice on COVID-19 including symptoms, prevention and available treatment, please refer to the World Health Organisation or your national healthcare authority.