Elizabeth Pisani
Has WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus sent contradictory signals?
© MARTIAL TREZZINI/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK
When the World Health Organisation Director- General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared Covid-19 a public health emergency of international concern, he urged countries not to restrict travel or trade with China. “It is a time for solidarity, not stigma,” he said, just two days after British Airways and other airlines announced they were suspending all direct flights to the Chinese mainland. He also repeated a clarion cry for transparency (“facts, not fear; science, not rumours”).