There are clear words that run through a Corona expert report. “The situation we are in today could have been prevented.”
Geneva – There are more than 150 million corona cases worldwide. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Covid-19 has claimed more than 3.3 million deaths, more than a third of them come from the USA (approx. 580,000), Brazil (425,000) and India (255,000), according to Johns Hopkins University. Sars-Cov-2 has the world firmly under control even more than a year after the first case. Politicians like Chancellor Angela Merkel speak of the most difficult challenge since the Second World War.
Corona: “The situation we are in today could have been prevented”
According to independent experts, however, the worldwide spread could have been avoided. In return, however, the warning signals had to be heeded immediately, the WHO had to sound the alarm earlier and the individual countries had to react more consistently, according to a report by an international panel of experts presented in Geneva on Wednesday.
“The situation we are in today could have been prevented,” stated the experts appointed by the World Health Organization (WHO). A “toxic cocktail” of procrastination, a lack of preparation and a poor reaction to the crisis was responsible for the dramatic proportions, said the panel’s co-president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Only in this way could the current “catastrophic humanitarian crisis” develop, which experts call the “Chernobyl of the 21st century”.
Corona: Experts make tough judgment – “toxic cocktail” and “a spiral of failures, gaps and delays”
The experts, however, not only hold the WHO, but also individual governments accountable. In many places, state institutions have “failed to protect people,” the report says. “Bad strategic decisions, a lack of will to tackle inequalities and an uncoordinated system created a toxic cocktail that allowed the pandemic to develop into a catastrophic humanitarian crisis,” said former Liberian President Sirleaf, who shared with former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark chairs the panel. “There has been a spiral of failures, gaps and delays in preparation and response.”
The panel of 13 experts was brought into being after criticism of the WHO. It spent eight months studying the spread of the coronavirus * and the measures taken by WHO and individual states. The WHO had often been criticized for reacting too slowly, especially at the beginning. The experts also came to the conclusion that the WHO should have declared the global health emergency earlier than January 30, 2020.
- December 31, 2019: The WHO is informed by China about the accumulation of pneumonia (lung diseases).
- January 30, 2020: The WHO declares the novel coronavirus to be a “health emergency of international concern” (corresponds to the highest possible alert level and obliges countries to take precautions).
- March 11, 2020: The WHO officially speaks of a pandemic instead of an epidemic.
Corona: pandemic classification too late? Germany responded with strict measures in mid-March
However, Co-Chair Clark stressed that this probably wouldn’t have changed much. In any case, many countries only reacted after the WHO declared the epidemic a global pandemic in March 2020. According to the WHO health regulations, unlike the declaration of “emergency”, this actually has no consequences. In retrospect, however, that was just the psychologically necessary boost to properly put governments on alert.
This can also be applied to Germany, for example. In January and February, the Robert Koch Institute * classified the threat to the population as “very low” (January 9), “low” (January 28, after the first case in Germany) or “low to moderate” (January 27). February) a.
The measures taken by the federal government * occurred almost at the same time as the pandemic was classified. On March 10, the crisis team of the Ministry of Health and the Interior recommended the cancellation of events for more than 1,000 participants and advised against traveling to Italy. In the days that followed, things went very quickly. Strict contact restrictions were issued, schools and daycare centers were closed. At this time, the RKI also changed its tone and rated the risk as “high” and “very high” for risk groups.
Corona: team of experts sees “very clearly delays in China” – and gives advice for the future
Since the countries based their health assessments on the WHO, many would have wasted February 2020 instead of taking precautions against the spread of Covid-19. According to the report, the fact that the WHO reacted comparatively late is also due to the misconduct of China, where the danger of the virus was downplayed according to critics. Immediately after the first appearance of the new type of coronavirus * in Wuhan at the end of 2019, there were “very clear delays in China,” said Clark. “But in the end there were delays everywhere.” Without all these delays, “we would not be this extent now”.
However, the panel of experts not only took stock, but also turned its attention to the future: In order to contain the virus worldwide, the rich countries, in which the vaccination campaign is already well advanced, would have to send at least one billion vaccine doses to the poorest countries by September 1 donate to the world. More than two billion more cans should be made available by mid-2022, they said. In parts of Asia and especially Africa, vaccinations * are progressing very slowly. (as / afp) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
