world health organization's response to the covid-19 pandemic world health organization's response to the covid-19 pandemic the world health organization (who) is a leading organisation involved in the global coordination for mitigating the covid-19 pandemic within the broader united nations response to the pandemic. part of a series on thecovid-19 pandemicscientifically accurate atomic model of the external structure of sars-cov-2. each "ball" is an atom. covid-19 (disease) sars-cov-2 (virus) cases deaths timeline 2019 2020 january responses february responses march responses april responses may responses june responses july responses august responses september responses october responses november responses december responses 2021 january responses february responses march responses april responses may responses june responses july responses august responses september responses october responses november responses december responses 2022 january responses february responses march 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speed misinformation and hesitancy us vaccine card vaccine passports current vaccines coronavac covaxin convidecia janssen medigen moderna novavax oxford–astrazeneca pfizer–biontech sinopharm bibp sputnik v variants variants of concern alpha beta gamma delta omicron other variants epsilon zeta eta theta iota kappa lambda mu cluster 5 lineage b.1.617 economic impact and recession arts and culture aviation cannabis cinema films disney fashion financial markets food industry food security journalism music performing arts retail shipping television us sportscasting programs tourism video games by country canada india ireland malaysia new zealand russia uk us by sport association football baseball basketball combat sports cricket disc golf gaelic games gridiron football ice hockey motorsport rugby league impacts animals black people crime death rates by country disability domestic violence emergency evacuations education female environment hospitals language lgbt community long-term care media coverage mental health symptoms migration military notable deaths other health issues politics diplomacy popular culture protests pregnancy prisons religion catholic church hajj science and technology social media strikes suicides telehealth xenophobia and racism society ireland malaysia new zealand russia uk us covid-19 portal world health organization representatives holding joint meeting with tehran city administrators in march 2020 on 5 january 2020, the who notified the world about a "pneumonia of unknown cause" in china and subsequently began investigating the disease. on 20 january, the who confirmed human-to-human transmission of the disease. on 30 january, the who declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern and warned all countries. on 11 march, the who said the outbreak constituted a pandemic. by 5 october of the same year, the who estimated that a tenth of the world's population had been infected with the novel virus. the who has spearheaded several initiatives, such as the covid-19 solidarity response fund, to raise money for the pandemic response, the un covid-19 supply chain task force, and the solidarity trial for investigating potential treatment options for the disease. the covax program, co-led by the who, gavi, and the coalition for epidemic preparedness innovations (cepi), aims to accelerate the development and manufacture of covid-19 vaccines and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world. the who's handling of the initial outbreak required a "diplomatic balancing act" between member states, in particular between the united states and china. on 27 august 2020, who director general tedros adhanom ghebreyesus announced that an independent expert committee would be established to examine various aspects of the international treaty that governs preparedness and response to health emergencies. a who-led international mission arrived in china in january 2021 to investigate the origins of the covid-19 pandemic, and released preliminary findings the following month. background the world health organization has provided state-endorsed guidance and has set norms and standards on outbreak preparedness and response. this was by its role of providing guidance and assisting with coordination in controlling the international spread of diseases. however, the who does not have the power to legally enforce its recommendations. timeline