Covid-19: International Response

Lord Loomba Excerpts

Monday 18th May 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Loomba (CB)]

My Lords, when coronavirus started in Wuhan, it was looked on as purely a Chinese problem. We failed to see the impending threat, even though the Chinese had locked down the whole Wuhan area and built an emergency hospital to treat their thousands of patients dying from coronavirus. Furthermore, the World Health Organization should have realised the seriousness of the virus and prepared a blueprint to avoid the global spread. For instance, all international borders could have been closed, and the procurement of face masks, PPE and ventilators—which the Chinese were using to protect their doctors and nurses—should have been encouraged. Had this been done, I have no doubt that the global casualties as of now would have been far fewer. It was only when Italy was hit with the virus that the whole world woke up, but by then it was too late to contain the global spread.

Finally, ahead of the virtual World Health Assembly today and following global calls for a review of the crisis, the UN has said that now is not the time for recriminations and that we must first work together to defeat it. When a vaccine is found, it must be shared with the whole world, including developing and fragile countries.