"팬데믹 연기 요청" 시진핑 직접 전화...WHO "사실과 달라"<br /><br />It has emerged that Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly pressured the director-general of the World Health Organization in January... to hold off on issuing a global pandemic warning about COVID-19 just as the virus was ravaging the city and spreading fast.<br />Lee Seung-jae has more.<br />In January,... COVID-19 sprouted up in the Chinese city of Wuhan,... quickly spreading to neighboring countries, such as Hong Kong and Singapore.<br />Around that time,... the World Health Organization held a two-day emergency meeting.<br />However,... the outbreak was not declared a pandemic.<br />"This is, though, an emergency in China. But it has not yet become a global health emergency. It may yet become one.<br />Citing BND,... Germany's federal intelligence service,... German media reports that there are suspicions the WHO's decision to delay the pandemic declaration was caused by pressure from Chinese President Xi Jinping.<br />The report says Xi called for a meeting with the WHO chief on January 21st,... and asked for the pandemic warning to be delayed.<br />Even when South Korea saw its first infection on January 20th,... followed by the U.S.'s first infection the following day,... the WHO did not declare a global pandemic,... a decision the BND estimates resulted in the loss of four to six weeks in the fight against COVID-19.<br />The WHO released a statement,... calling the allegations "unfounded and untrue",... adding the WHO chief and President Xi did not speak on January 21st,... nor have they ever spoken by phone.<br />The WHO continued to say China confirmed human-to-human transmission to the UN health agency on January 20th,... and that the agency "publicly declared" two days later that such transmission was taking place in Wuhan.<br />The statements also come as President Trump has blasted China for holding back critical information about the virus,... including its failure to accurately report on the number of cases.<br />Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.<br />
