candide

1 hour ago, rabas said:

Said the Guardian while presenting no evidence of such private meetings.

 

From your above link:

The WHO declared a “public health emergency of international concern” on 30 January, a day before Trump banned non-American residents who had been to China from entering the US.

 

From above link to Jan 30:

The Wuhan coronavirus outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared, but he warned governments not to impose travel or trade restrictions on China.

 

So WHO said don't do anything but Trump immediately implemented a ban to protect the US and you argue it was all Trumps fault.

The Guardian is surely more reliable than Trump.

Now about travel restrictions. They may well have been wrong not to call for a China travel ban (how efficient were travel bans, I.e. Italy?). But OK, let's assume you are right. So the US and most other countries did apply a travel ban quickly (.i.e. Italy, France, Australia, Azerbaidjan, Costa Rica, etc...).

So if the US did not follow this particular recommendation, the WHO cannot be held responsible for consequences of something which did not happen, right?

Similarly, the WHO advised at an early stage to test, track and isolate and one of its first initiative was to make a protocol available on January 17. As it was not applied in the US until very recently, unlike in Korea, the WHO cannot be responsible for the poor performance of the US compared to SK, right?

7 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

The ones South Korea listened to seem to be on the money.

 

 

Exactly. Since the beginning, WHO's main recommendation has been to test, track and isolate. China and Korea applied it extensively, others didn't. Very quickly, on January 17, WHO also published a protocol from German researchers with the instructions necessary for any country to manufacture coronavirus tests.

9 hours ago, Crazy Alex said:

WHO said in mid-January the virus can't be spread by humans. They want people to take them seriously?

Mentioning that the information came from the Chinese government.

During the same period of time, they also gave clear warnings that human-to-human transmission may be possible and that countries should prepare for it.

"The World Health Organization warned the US and other countries about the risk of human-to-human transmission of Covid-19 as early as 10 January, and urged precautions even though initial Chinese studies at that point had found no clear evidence of that route of infection."

"The January WHO tweet reported “preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission”.

But in the same week top WHO officials were briefing health leaders around the world to keep looking out for signs of such transmission, and to take precautions as if it was already happening."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/09/who-cited-human-transmission-risk-in-january-despite-trump-claims

1 hour ago, thisisrascal said:

• There is no doubt that the WHO completely dropped the ball on this one and that Tedros should either resign or be fired.
• The fact is they peddled the dangerous lies of the CCP up until it was no longer just their problem.
• Whoever rejected the findings of Taiwan ought to be fired into the sun.  

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/09/who-cited-human-transmission-risk-in-january-despite-trump-claims

12 minutes ago, Crazy Alex said:

Straw man alert. No one said that.

From the surge of demand for prescriptions and the numerous posts by faithfull Trumpers advocating the benefits of using this drug, I am afraid That's how it has been understood.

2 hours ago, Crazy Alex said:

You've moved the bar. Previously, you stated presidents should keep their nose out of scientific debate. Now you've added a caveat regarding "consensus" among scientists. That seems like a very arbitrary standard. I will stick with the Constitution: free speech. Obviously, a president has that right. And given scientific consensus has been wrong before, there's no reason to use that as a means to tell a president he needs to shut up about an issue he is in charge of.

BS! The president is not in charge of advising which medicine to take. 

6 hours ago, FarFlungFalang said:

Oh but they did didn't they?They said not to panic and no need to restrict travel and no need to close borders no need to suffer economically it's possible to contain the virus and similar nonsense did they not?

One can blame the WHO for declaring a public emergency only at the end of January when they got enough numbers to do it, which triggered national declarations in most countries. They also don't recommend travel bans, and they may well be wrong (or not, it has not proven to be very effective). However, from end of January, the WHO did not downplay the spread, I. e. on Feb.10

"The new coronavirus devastating Chinese cities and spreading into many other countries around the world is “a very grave threat”, the director general of the World Health Organization has warned, comparing its potential with that of terrorism.

“Viruses can have more powerful consequences than any terrorist action,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, after an international meeting of 400 scientists and other experts convened in Geneva to look for solutions to the crisis.

With an estimated 18 months until the first vaccine is available, “we have to do everything today using available weapons,” he said. The rising number of diagnoses in patients who had never visited China could be the “tip of the iceberg”, he added."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/11/coronavirus-vaccine-could-be-ready-in-18-months-says-who

Yes, they said it was possible to contain it, provided drastic policies of testing, tracking and isolating, etc.. were implemented, and made a test available. That's what China and Korea did,  with some positive outcomes it seems.

From the end of January, there was no way the WHO could have induced Trump to downplay the coronavirus risk. The information about potential risk was also well diffused by the media. I remember that most posters, who now blame the WHO, used to frantically criticize the MSM for allegedly overstating potential risk and creating panic.

6 hours ago, JeffyInBkk said:

All I can say is that WHO is the only source of fake news and misinformation from day one literally on everything. Please help share this:  https://www.change.org/p/united-nations-call-for-the-resignation-of-tedros-adhanom-ghebreyesus-who-director-general 

Fake news title. It's a private petition. The United nations are not calling for his resignation.

5 hours ago, Crazy Alex said:

OK... I"m going to do a search for posts by you in which you criticize Barack Obama for sticking his nose in the *climate change* debate. How do you think I'll make out? Wait... I have ESP..... "that's different", right? LOL

Which debate? There is a consensus among scientists about it, except for a very marginal fringe.

Did his statements raise the risk of uncontrolled use of a drug and/or its shortage?

5 hours ago, Crazy Alex said:

Obviously both countries took additional steps (or failed to) that resulted in their respective infection and death rates. No luck involved. It's not dissimilar from the US. Some states (almost all blue) have been ravaged by the virus. Some have not. Obviously, in some instances, states with very low populations have very low infections rates. Even that is not luck. It is science. You like science, yes?

Which additional steps did the US take? None. So it was luck. Luck does not mean it cannot be explained. Luck that less infected people came from China by plane, luck that these people found themselves in a more isolated context, etc.. 

The US did not experience an outburst later because of something distinctive it did, so it was luck.

Coming back to the original statement: the US was lucky to experience an epidemic later than other European countries, but Trump did not use this extra time to prepare its country.  Instead he went on downplaying it and talking B.S. until late.

45 minutes ago, Crazy Alex said:

Why do you think there needs to be consensus among countries in order to start a new drug trial? Imagine how slowly advancements would occur if the world did so.

 

As to political leaders not meddling in scientific health issues- complete nonsense. A president has to "meddle" in a plethora of issues. Why do you think health care is some sort of holy grail which the president must avoid?

You did get my point. What I wrote is that, in any country, there is no consensus on chloroquine for covid-19. Some think it works, some state there is no real proof of it. And it's not according to any political stance. That's why they conduct trials to find out.

Yes, a president must not meddle in scientific debates and controversies, in particular about medicine. That's not his job.

10 minutes ago, Crazy Alex said:

Oh please let's not kid around, the MSM relays the assessment of most LIBERAL "experts".

Which experts are 'liberal' and which are not? Tell us!

Get out of the US microcosm! In other countries, this issue is not politicized by people such as Trump, and there is exactly the same debate as is exposed in the US MSM.

Check the British, French or German media, whatever their political orientation. No right-wing politicians or right-wing supporters are in propaganda mode for using chloroquine.

2 minutes ago, Crazy Alex said:

Yes of course, the president can be just as well-informed as the most authoritative sources in the world. That's not even debatable. The only question is, why are you so invested in it not working? That seems quite odd.

I am not at all invested in it not working. If it is ultimately proven that it works, that's fine for me (and most of all for people who could be saved). But tell me, for what other reason than supporting Trump are you writing so many posts on a topic on which there is absolutely no consensus, in any country.

My point is that political leaders should not meddle in scientific health issues and should leave it to health professionals. That's what other leaders in other countries do.

My point is not that Trump should be against choloronavirus. My point is that he should shut up.

1 hour ago, Bruno Gerussi said:

Sticking to the OP: Trump isn't wrong in his assessment of the WHO. Disclaimer: I am not American or a Trump supporter. Just calling things as I see them. The WHO has done a grave disservice to citizens around the world by withholding information/parroting CCP propaganda. And before the mob attacks me, I implore everyone to research "Dr. Tederos" the Marxist-Leninist strongman of Ethiopia, now head of the WHO and his ties to the CCP. Stay home and stay safe everyone. The truth will prevail, as always. The question is at what human cost? 

Which information did they withold, exactly?