Westchester residents sue WHO for alleged coronavirus cover-up

"When the WHO should have been focusing on global counter-pandemic efforts, it was instead politicizing the crisis," the suit reads.

By DONNA RACHEL EDMUNDS
Bruce Aylward of the World Health Organisation (WHO) attends a news conference of the WHO-China Joint Mission on Covid-19 about its investigation of the coronavirus outbreak in Beijing, China, February 24, 2020. (photo credit: REUTERS/THOMAS PETER)
Bruce Aylward of the World Health Organisation (WHO) attends a news conference of the WHO-China Joint Mission on Covid-19 about its investigation of the coronavirus outbreak in Beijing, China, February 24, 2020.
(photo credit: REUTERS/THOMAS PETER)
Three Westchester residents, one of whom is a doctor, are suing the World Health Organization for failing to warn the world of the threat posed by the coronavirus in a timely manner. They say the WHO's negligence has led to incalculable harm, both personally and economically, to the residents of Westchester.
Richard Kling, a doctor, and Steve Rotker of New Rochelle, along with Gennaro Purchia of Scarsdale have instructed the Blau Leonard Law Group to launch a class action suit against the organization
"When the WHO should have been focusing on global counter-pandemic efforts, it was instead politicizing the crisis and using the WHO platform to defend the Chinese government’s gross violation of human rights," the suit reads, adding that "the WHO publicly praised China’s “transparency” in battling the spread of the disease," despite China's apparent dishonesty over the severity and spread of the disease.
The suit seeks damages for the 756,000 adult residents living in Westchester County who make up the class. According to lohud.com, the attorney for the plaintiffs, Steven Blau, had originally wanted to include the whole of New York in the class but felt including such a wide range of people would damage the class.
"More people with different circumstances could damage the ability to get the suit recognized as a class," Blau said. "The smaller amount of people in Westchester is more manageable compared to a state of 20 million." 
As it is, the suit does not have a high chance of success. Chimène Keitner, an international law professor at the University of California said it is likely that the suit will simply be dismissed as US law affords the WHO "functional immunity" in cases such as this, the New York Post has reported.
Nonetheless, the suit seeks recognition that the WHO failed to protect the global community from the threat posed by COVID-19, listing multiple alleged failures by the organization, including failure "to timely declare Coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern;" failure "to properly monitor the response ... in China; and "failure to pass on information on "correct treatment guidelines to its members."
It further alleges that "the WHO mishandled and mismanaged the response to the discovery of the coronavirus and upon information in belief, engaged in a cover-up of the COVID-19 pandemic in China ... thereby causing and/or contributing to the subsequent spread of the coronavirus all over the world, including to the United States of America and the State of New York."
New Rochelle became an early hot-spot for the disease in America after resident Lawrence Garbuz attended a bar mitzvah at the Young Israel of New Rochelle synagogue shortly before being diagnosed with Covid-19, thus becoming patient zero in a localized outbreak. Garbuz was hospitalized, although he has since recovered and returned home. A mile radius "containment zone" was later placed around the synagogue.
By April 18, 23,803 people had tested positive for the virus in Westchester, according to the State's health department, although not all of those were linked to New Rochelle. In total, by the same date, 242,786 people in New York had tested positive for the coronavirus. Between March 11 and April 15, more than 10,000 people were thought to have died of COVID-19 in New York City.