By Dan Murphy
Three Westchester residents have filed a federal lawsuit against the World Health Organization, (WHO), over the COVID-19 pandemic in Westchester and the State of New York. At the same time, a congressional candidate representing Westchester has called on Congress to investigate WHO and the actions of China for misleading the United States in the days and weeks before the Coronavirus outbreak began here.
And a recent poll taken by the Pew Research Center shows that Americans negative views of China have continued to grow, with roughly two-thirds now say they have an unfavorable view of China, and negative views of China’s leader, President Xi Jinping, are also at historically high levels.
Last week, three Westchester residents filed a civil lawsuit in Federal court in White Plains against the World Health Organization for negligence and a cover up in the days and weeks after the Coronavirus pandemic began in China earlier this year. Scarsdale resident Gennaro Purchia and New Rochelle residents Steve Rotke and Richard Kling are the named plaintiffs.
The suit reads, “This is a class action brought against the WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION [“WHO”] for the substantial damages suffered by Plaintiffs and Class Members, proximately resulting from WHO’s gross negligence in failing to timely declare Coronavirus [COVID-19] a public health emergency of international concern (“PHEIC”); in failing to properly monitor the response to the Coronavirus pandemic in China generally and within Hubei Province and the City of Wuhan; in failing to timely promulgate the correct treatment guidelines to its members; in failing to issue appropriate guidance to its members on how they should respond to the Coronavirus pandemic emergency, including travel and trade restrictions; and in failing to act as a global coordinator, shepherding scientific data and experts to where they were most needed.”
“The WHO mishandled and mismanaged the response to the discovery of the coronavirus and upon information and belief, engaged in a cover-up of the COVID19 pandemic in China generally, and within Hubei Province and the City of Wuhan, thereby causing and/or contributing to the subsequent spread of the coronavirus all over the world, including to the United States of America.”
The lawsuit also reminds us of similar troubles the WHO had in warning the world about the Ebola epidemic in 2014-15. “The WHO failed to take into account the range of factors that contributed to Ebola transmission, and provided an inadequate response to the second wave of the outbreak appearing in May 2014 As the WHO has suggested, its own shortcomings at this time were numerous. The initial response was slow and insufficient, we were not aggressive in alerting the world, our surge capacity was limited, we did not work effectively in coordination with other partners, there were shortcomings in risk communication,..
The lawsuit also presents a timeline of events from the first case of Coronavirus in China to the pandemic that it has now become here. “On or before December 31, 2019, the WHO China Country Office was informed of cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology (unknown cause) detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China.
“On March 13,2020, an unverified report from the South China Morning Post suggested a case traced back to November 17, 2019, in a 55-year-old from Hubei. On January 20, 2020, the United States announced its first case.
“Between November 2019 – when the first case of this new virus was first detected until March 11, 2020, when the WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic, the Chinese government and the WHO intentionally mislead the international community, including the named Plaintiffs, about the coronavirus and its devastating medical and economic effects.
“Upon information and belief, the WHO conspired with the Chinese government to cover-up the severity of the COVID-19 heath pandemic. Upon information and belief, the WHO had actual and/or constructive knowledge that the Chinese government, in order to effectuate this this cover-up, intimidated doctors, scientists, journalists, and lawyers and ordered the destruction of medical testing and data.
“Upon information and belief, the WHO had actual and/or constructive knowledge that the Chinese government failed to timely report the COVID-19 outbreak, under reported the severity of the virus, underreported the deaths caused by COVID-19, and failed to properly contain the outbreak.
“The WHO has recklessly and negligently managed this deadly pandemic and assisted China to play down the severity, prevalence and scope of the COVID-19 outbreak. From the outset, the WHO has defended China, despite its gross mismanagement of the highly contagious disease. When the U.S. took a critical step to stop the coronavirus at U.S. borders by issuing a travel ban as early as January 31,2020, the WHO admonished the Trump Administration that widespread travel bans and restrictions were not needed to stop the outbreak and could “have the effect of increasing fear and stigma, with little public health benefit.” WHO officials also warned that interfering with transportation and trade could harm efforts to address the crisis and advised other countries not to follow the U.S. lead.”
The Pew Poll, taken of more than 1,000 Americans, was conducted in mid -March, less than one month into the Coronavirus pandemic. But in addition to concerns about COVID-19, Americans also raised economic concerns, such as job losses to China and the trade deficit, and human rights polices and a lack of concern for the environment, – also worry Americans.
The survey finds that younger people, who have historically been more positive than older Americans toward China, now increasingly hold negative views of the country and are more prone to see it as a threat to the U.S. than in previous years. Older Americans, however, still take a more negative stance than their younger compatriots on most aspects of the U.S.-China relationship.
Roughly six-in-ten Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents have unfavorable views of China, as do roughly seven-in-ten Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. Those with a college degree are just as likely as those with less than a college degree to hold negative views of China; roughly two-thirds of each group voice this opinion.
Roughly seven-in-ten Americans (71%) say they do not have confidence in Chinese President Xi to do the right thing when it comes to world affairs. About nine-in-ten U.S. adults see China’s power and influence as a threat – including 62% who say it is a major threat.
When asked whether various issues involving China pose a problem for the U.S., A majority (61%) says China’s environmental footprint is a very serious problem for the U.S (China was recently estimated to emit roughly 30% of the world’s total amount of carbon dioxide but produces fewer greenhouse gases per capita than the U.S. does.)
Americans are similarly concerned with cyberattacks from China. A majority of 57% say this poses a very serious problem to the U.S. Similarly, 57% say China’s human rights policies pose a very serious problem – an 8-point increase from 2018.
Regardless of whether they think the U.S. is the leading economic or military power today, nearly all Americans also think that a future with U.S. leadership is a better thing than one with Chinese leadership. When forced to choose between which would be better for the world, 91% of Americans say it is better for the U.S. to be the world’s leading power than China (4%), largely unchanged since 2018 when the question was last asked. Read the poll at pewresearch.org
Chele Farley, who is running for Congress in the 18th District, representing northern Westchester and the Hudson Valley, said, “I call on Congress to investigate the actions of China and the World Health Organization in minimizing the seriousness of the COVID-19 outbreak. They need to be held accountable.
“It is becoming more and more clear that the origin of the COVID-19 outbreak came from bat to human contact in a Wuhan, China testing lab. The lab didn’t meet international standards to conduct testing. Even worse, China tried to cover it up. Furthermore, this pandemic has exposed our reliance on China for vital goods. When I’m elected to Congress, I will work to pass legislation that focuses on bringing our vital drug manufacturing back home. We can’t allow China the ability to cripple our supply chain in the future,” said Farley, a republican, who is running against democratic Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney.
President Donald Trump won this district in 2016.
