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MPs issue mandatory summons for WHO’s Bruce Aylward to testify before committee

MPs issue mandatory summons for WHO's Bruce Aylward to testify before committee | iNFOnews.ca
Bruce Aylward, Team Lead WHO-China joint mission on COVID-19, speaks to the media about the COVID-19 after returning from China, during a press conference, at the World Health Organization, WHO, headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Keystone via AP, Salvatore Di Nolfi

OTTAWA – MPs have issued a summons for a Canadian adviser to the World Health Organization, after he turned down repeated invitations to appear at a House of Commons committee.

Bruce Aylward is the epidemiologist who led a team of WHO experts to China in February to study the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

He and the WHO have been criticized for his report on China’s ability to curb the spread of COVID-19, which has since become a worldwide pandemic.

The committee invited Aylward to testify by videoconference from Geneva, Switzerland, twice in the last month.

He turned them down, and the WHO instead offered to answer written questions.

The committee voted unanimously Thursday to formally summon him to appear, but it can only be enforced once he returns to Canadian soil.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 30, 2020.

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