Thread by @KongTsungGan

Irresponsible @WHO led by a subservient @DrTedros has praised China's response to coronavirus but 'at critical turning points, Chinese authorities put secrecy & order ahead of openly confronting crisis & risking public alarm or political embarrassment'. nytimes.com/2020/02/01/wor…

@WHO @DrTedros China’s 'initial handling of the epidemic allowed virus to gain tenacious hold.' It punished the doctors who 1st sounded alarm & played down the danger rather than warning Wuhan residents. When it closed the market that was the epicentre, it told people it was for 'renovations'.

@WHO @DrTedros 'Even as cases climbed, officials declared repeatedly that there had likely been no more infections.' 'By not moving aggressively...the Chinese government lost one of its best chances to keep the disease from becoming an epidemic.'

@WHO @DrTedros The first case was in early December but authorities didn't take concerted action until January 20 by which point the disease had already become a threat. Now it's a global health emergency.

@WHO @DrTedros “Projecting optimism and confidence, if you don’t have the data, is a very dangerous strategy. It undermines the legitimacy of the government in messaging. And public health is dependent on public trust.”

@WHO @DrTedros There've been heroes, such as Dr Li Wenliang who first warned of the virus & was punished (& since has himself been infected) & scientist Zheng-Li Shi who isolated the genetic sequence & viral strain & alerted scientists around the world. But they've fought against the system.

@WHO @DrTedros As virus spread in early January, Wuhan mayor 'was touting futuristic health care plans for the city' & didn't even mention the outbreak. 'Politics is always No.1,' said Hubei governor. State health commission's daily updates said no new cases while infections were growing.

@WHO @DrTedros Officials told doctors at a top Wuhan hospital “don’t use the words viral pneumonia." A doctor says this made ordinary people think doctors were exaggerating when they tried to alert them to the danger. @WHO simply repeated Chinese govt's reassuring words.

@WHO @DrTedros It was only when SARS hero Dr Zhong Nanshan said in interview on state TV that coronavirus spread w human contact that govt leapt into action w Xi Jinping issuing instructions. At that point, death toll was 3 but would raise to over 200 in next 11 days.

@WHO @DrTedros Two days later, the city announced that it was shutting itself down, a move that could only have been approved by Beijing. Many Wuhan residents said they'd didn't grasp how serious the epidemic was until the lockdown, which clearly came too late.

@WHO @DrTedros Dr Li ,who sounded the alarm & was punished ,is now in hospital, aggrieved by police actions. “If the officials had disclosed information about the epidemic earlier, I think it would have been a lot better. There should be more openness and transparency.”

@WHO @DrTedros We expect the #CCP to lie. Nobody in #HK trusts the CCP or the HK govt. It's utterly disgraceful that @WHO & @DrTedros went along with the CCP's obfuscations & false reassurances for so long, allowing the epidemic to spread not only within China but far beyond its borders.

@WHO @DrTedros Now grossly irresponsible #HK govt refuses to close the China border for political reasons, justifying its inaction by referring to @WHO guidelines. The authorities have let the people down. We know we can only depend on ourselves. That's why HK health workers are going on strike