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Expert panel says pandemic was preventable

An independent expert panel faulted the World Health Organization and world leaders with a slow-moving response to the coronavirus pandemic.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a 2019 IAEA conference in Vienna
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a 2019 IAEA conference in Vienna (AN/Dean Calma)

GENEVA (AN) — An independent expert panel faulted the World Health Organization and world leaders on Wednesday with a slow-moving response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 13-member panel appointed by WHO's director-general to examine why COVID-19 became a global health crisis concluded it was a "preventable disaster." It found the U.N. health agency was "underpowered," its alert system too slow, and its inspectors "hindered" by a lack of unrestricted rights to enter any nation and fully investigate outbreaks.

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