WHO denies report claiming China pressurised it to withhold Covid-19 info

German weekly Der Spiegel reported that Xi asked Tedros during the call to hold back information about human-to-human transmission of the virus and delay declaring a pandemic

The World Health Organisation has dismissed a media report saying that it withheld information about Covid-19 following pressure from China, and termed it as 'false allegation'. 

The UN agency said in a statement late Saturday that a German magazine's report about a telephone conversation between WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Chinese President Xi Jinping on January 21 was unfounded and untrue.

Weekly Der Spiegel reported that Xi asked Tedros during the call to hold back information about human-to-human transmission of the virus and delay declaring a pandemic. The magazine quoted Germany's foreign intelligence agency, BND, which declined to comment