When the corona virus spread across Wuhan last month, WHO relied on information from China to say that it was able to handle the epidemic.

And as pneumonia plagues spread across China's provinces as well as many other countries, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus still praised Beijing's "transparency", despite evidence that Chinese officials have been ask early warning people to keep quiet and to lower the severity of the outbreak.

Now many people question whether the WHO's praise in the first weeks of dealing with the epidemic created misleading and subjective psychology, unknowingly creating a chance for the virus to spread.

"We were deceived," said Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law at Georgetown University, a WHO advisor. "Based on what WHO and China say, I and other public health experts have reassured the public that the epidemic is not serious and we can control it," he said.

"We have created a false sense of security," he added.

Pandemic pneumonia has spread in 26 countries and territories, causing at least 1,018 deaths to more than 43,000. Dealing with a new kind of translation is never easy. During the crisis, WHO, a UN agency based in Geneva, had to work with member states to obtain information and coordinate responses.

WHO-knowledgeable experts emphasize that cautious foreign policy and public praise can help crisis-stricken nations not become closed to the outside world.

The agency learned valuable lessons from the 2002 SARS epidemic, when China initially tried to cover up the epidemic. Some experts assessed that in this crisis, WHO acted correctly.

But some people expressed concern about WHO's ease of accepting Chinese data and assessments during the early stages of the outbreak without doubt. They also warned that constant WHO compliments to Beijing would undermine the agency's reputation.

"I am concerned whether they can lead an international response effectively," said Yanzhong Huang, an expert from the Council on Foreign Relations, USA. "Citizens believe the agency is a 'global health advocate' because of their expertise and political neutrality."

In 2003, the SARS pandemic shook China and changed the way WHO deals with medical risks. After the crisis, new rules were introduced, requiring WHO to report on new diseases and give them greater power to investigate, using informal sources such as from social groups. Civil. The goal of this change is to prevent information cloaking.

Late in December 2019, rumors of a mysterious virus began circulating on Chinese social networks. China notified WHO on December 31, 2019, of an unexplained pneumonia epidemic in Wuhan. Based on Chinese data, WHO released a statement on January 5, saying there were 44 cases and no evidence of human to human transmission.

But in fact, before January 5, some Wuhan officials knew the doctors were discussing the spread of a SARS-like virus, and these doctors were reminded. Local officials also reported fewer cases than they actually did.

"I think there is a delay in reporting information from Wuhan to Beijing, although Beijing is quite open about sharing information with WHO," said Mara Pillinger, an expert from the National and Global Health Institute. O'Neill Bridge of Georgetown University said.

David Heymann, a professor at London's School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and chair of the WHO advisory committee on infectious diseases, advocated for this response. "When a new outbreak broke out, it was difficult to assess the risk," he said, pointing out that the US also made mistakes in dealing with AIDS and that Canada had difficulty coordinating between the federal government and the local. during the SARS pandemic.

Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Health Security Center, said WHO has done a good job in difficult conditions. But she also said that China is late in providing important epidemiological data that researchers need to study viruses, such as information about patients.

"A criticism that WHO deserves is that when it comes to reporting on the situation, they basically lack data from China," she said. "The question is why do they not have data and why they do nothing to fix that situation."

Since the end of January, China has started taking drastic action to combat the epidemic. On January 20, when 400 million people were preparing to go home for Tet, officials confirmed what many had long suspected: the virus could be passed from person to person.

Xi called for swift and transparent action. "There is a need to publish information on the epidemic in a timely manner and to enhance international cooperation," Chinese state media quoted his instructions. Officials began restricting the public transport of the 11 million Wuhan city.

In Geneva, an emergency council was convened to discuss the situation and decide whether to declare a global emergency in order to represent "a serious, unusual, unpredictable health crisis." Public health risks to other countries through international spread ".

On January 22, Tedros welcomed China's efforts. "What they are doing is very, very powerful and with full commitment," he said. This comment surprised public health professionals because the travel ban could create panic and make initial responses more difficult.

On January 23, China imposed an "internal and external" order on Wuhan and then restricted traffic in other cities, affecting more than a few tens of millions of people. On the same day, in Geneva, WHO decided not to declare a global emergency. This means not calling for restrictions on access to China, even if Beijing has "closed" its central region.

When asked about China's blockade of the city for quarantine, Tedros hesitated to comment. "A sovereign state has autonomy to do what it deems right," he said, expressing hope that the blockade period will not last long.

While the WHO has blessed words for China, officials have begun to admit the mistake. In an interview on January 27, Wuhan Mayor Chu Tien Vuong acknowledged that information should be disclosed faster.

When visiting Beijing, Tedros still praised officials. Xinhua reported that Tedros praised not only its response to nCoV but also the "effectiveness of the Chinese system". When he returned from Beijing, he continued to praise China and Xi. "I feel encouraged and impressed by the president's detailed understanding of the translation and his personal commitment."

On January 30, WHO declared a global emergency. "The Chinese government should be praised for the extraordinary measures it has taken to stop the epidemic," Tedros said.

Some experts believe that these compliments are a sound strategy. "WHO needs to balance the parties," said Devi Sridhar, a professor at the University of Edinburgh. "If that requires public praise of China, he must do so."

Others worry that this could upset public confidence in WHO. Praising Chinese leaders "is not a bad idea, but it should be done professionally and reliably", Huang said.

WHO appears to be maintaining this strategy. Last weekend, the reporter asked Tedros if China initially hid the information, mentioning that Dr. Li Wenliang had been reprimanded for early warning of the epidemic. He died of nCoV on February 7.

He initially passed the question to a colleague and then expressed his opinion, continuing to advocate for the Chinese handling of the epidemic. "It is difficult to say that China has covered up."

On the online change.org online petition, a petition initiated by a user named "Osuka Yip" since January 31, has collected more than 361,000 signatures and is aiming to reach 500,000 signatures. demanded Tedros resign.

"We think that Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is not suitable for the role of WHO Director-General. We call him to immediately resign," the petition wrote.