Delayed warning, hidden numbers: Panel slams China, WHO for acting too slow on Covid-19

The report also criticised the WHO for dragging its feet at the start of the crisis, pointing out that the UN health agency did not convene its emergency committee until January 22, 2020. And the committee failed to agree to declare the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) - its highest alert level - until a week later.

The panel questioned whether the WHO should have used the word pandemic earlier than it did. The WHO did not use the word until March 11 last year, repeatedly insisting before that date that it did not need to use it as a PHEIC had already been declared. The panel hinted countries may have taken the situation more seriously if the word had been used, stressing it serves "to focus attention on the gravity of a health event".

According to the panel report, the case numbers have been undercounted from the start. "In retrospect, it is clear that the volume of infections in the early period of the epidemic in all countries was higher than reported," it said. "A largely hidden epidemic contributed to the global spread."

In a report released on January 18, the panel called for an overhaul of global health alert and response systems, saying the current system is "not fit for purpose." The panel said the countries failed to prepare, despite years of warnings of the inevitability of a health threat with pandemic potential.