GENEVA, Jan 18 (Reuters) - An independent panel reviewing the global handling of the COVID-19 pandemic said on Monday that Chinese officials could have applied public health measures more forcefully in January and criticised the World Health Organization (WHO) for not declaring an international emergency until Jan. 30.
In an interim report the panel of experts, led by former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, said: "The global pandemic alert system is not fit for purpose", adding: "The World Health Organization has been underpowered to do the job".
It called for a "global reset" and said it would provide recommendations in a final report to health ministers in May. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Josephine Mason and Alex Richardson)
