Wall Street Journal | May 12, 2021
Countries are required under a set of international health regulations to report to the WHO within 24 hours disease events of potential international concern. China didn’t report its coronavirus outbreak to the WHO as soon as it knew about the first cases and has since impeded a search for the pandemic virus’s origins, said Lawrence Gostin, professor of global health law at Georgetown University who has advised the WHO.
“We had a blatant violation,” he said, adding that “it was a significant error” that the report didn’t hold China accountable. Moreover, he said, “the report doesn’t recommend any particular sanctions or compliance enhancing measures.”