'World should have listened' to WHO on Covid-19, its director says

He lamented that not all countries had heeded its advice

GENEVA: The World Health Organization chief said Monday that the agency had sounded the highest level of alarm over the novel coronavirus early on, but lamented that not all countries had heeded its advice.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pointed out that the WHO warned the Covid-19 outbreak constituted a 'Public Health Emergency of International Concern' on January 30, when there were only 82 cases registered outside China.

"The world should have listened to WHO then carefully," he told a virtual press briefing.