China denies report which said Beijing delayed sharing coronavirus info with WHO

China has dismissed a report which claimed Beijing delayed sharing of information on vel coronavirus with World Health Organisation (WHO). An Associated Press report published on June 2 said that China delayed release of genetic map of virus for more than a week after fully decoding information.

During a regular press briefing on June 3, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said that China informed WHO about outbreak of pneumonia on January 3 of which course was unkwn. He added that China CDC succeeded in isolating vel coronavirus strain on January 7 and shared information on January 9 after holding discussions with experts.

“After scientific and careful comparison, we shared virus geme sequence with WHO and made public whole geme sequence by uploading it to WHO global database,” said Zhao.

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'Very minimal information'

In stark contrast to China’s claims, AP report said that though WHO officials lauded Beijing publicly for its virus response, y were frustrated and complained about delay in private meetings. internal documents and recordings of WHO meetings suggested that UN ncy wanted to coax for more information from government which forced m to laud Beijing.

“We’re going on very minimal information. It’s clearly t eugh for you to do proper planning,” said American epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove in one internal meeting. 

Referring to state-owned China Central Television, Dr Gauden Galea, WHO’s top official in China, said, “We’re currently at st where yes, y’re giving it to us 15 minutes before it appears on CCTV".

Last month, WHO member states adopted a resolution that called for an “impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation” of global COVID-19 response and inquiry into actions of WHO and “timelines pertaining to COVID-19 pandemic”. WHO chief Tedros Adham Ghebreysus said that he will initiate such an evaluation at earliest appropriate moment.

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(With AP inputs)