Suburban New Yorkers sue WHO over coronavirus pandemic responce

Residents of a suburban New York City county that was one of the earliest US hot spots for the coronavirus sued the World Health Organisation yesterday, accusing it of gross negligence in covering up and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, Report says, citing Reuters.

In a proposed class action, three residents of Westchester County accused the WHO of failing to declare a pandemic quickly, monitor China's response to the original outbreak, provide treatment guidelines, advise members on how to respond, including through travel restrictions, and coordinate a global response.

They also accused the WHO of conspiring with China's government, which was not named as a defendant, to cover up COVID-19's severity.

On December 31, 2019, Chinese authorities announced an outbreak of pneumonia in China's Wuhan, which causative agent is a new type of coronavirus officially named COVID-19.

On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of a new coronavirus a pandemic.