The World Health Organization’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday vowed to launch an independent review “at the earliest appropriate moment” into the agency’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic
His comments come in the wake of growing calls for international and domestic investigations into the United Nations-backed organization’s decision making through the ongoing crisis and early knowledge into the origins of the virus.
“We all have lessons to learn from the pandemic,” Dr. Tedros said during the WHO’s ministerial assembly. “Every country and every organization must examine its response and learn from its experience. WHO is committed to transparency, accountability and continuous improvement.”
He explained the pandemic is far from over, and “the risk remains high.”
Most countries that have reported coronavirus cases have seen less than 10% of the population contract the disease, while the highest contraction rate is 20%, Dr. Tedros said.
More than 4.7 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported around the world, 215,496 have died, and 1.7 million have recovered, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
