THE World Health Organisation (WHO) has denied reports of a phone call between its chief and the Chinese president during which he was asked to delay issuing a global warning about person-to-person transmission of coronavirus.
German weekly Der Spiegel (The Mirror) claimed that WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and President Xi Jingping spoke by phone on January 21 – the day after China first confirmed instances of the virus being passed from human to human.
It based its reports on information from Germany’s foreign spy agency BND, and reported on its website: “In a January 21 telephone call, Chinese President Xi Jinping asked WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to hold back information about person-to-person transmission and delay a pandemic warning.
“According to the BND’s assessment, China’s information policy cost four to six weeks of time to fight the virus worldwide.”
However, in a terse statement, WHO said the two never spoken by phone.
“Der Spiegel reports of a January 21, 2020, telephone conversation between Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and President Xi Jingping of China are unfounded and untrue,” said the agency.
“Dr Tedros and President Xi did not speak on January 21 and they have never spoken by phone.
“Such inaccurate reports distract and detract from WHO’s and the world’s efforts to end the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Der Spiegel said Germany’s defence ministry and BND had privately cast doubt on US claims that the pandemic originated in a Chinese lab.
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