Italy 'misled WHO on pandemic readiness' weeks before Covid outbreak

Preparations not reviewed since 2006 but self-reporting in February 2020 claimed they were at highest level

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Italy allegedly misled the World Health Organization (WHO) on its readiness to face a pandemic less than three weeks before the country's first locally transmitted coronavirus case was confirmed.

Each year, countries bound by the International Health Regulations (IHR) - an international treaty to combat the global spread of disease - are required to file a self-assessment report to the WHO on the status of their preparedness for a health emergency.