This is one of those completely false things that people only believe is true by repetition. Go back and actually read the full set of WHO statements in mid-January. They have a bunch of statements saying that nations should get prepared, one saying that specific studies haven鈥檛 yet found hard evidence for person-to-person transmission (because at that point most of the cases they鈥檇 managed to find were tied to the market). The WHO never, ever said that it can鈥檛 be transmitted, and they absolutely never said that people should do nothing about COVID-19. They were urging nations to act for months before they actually did.