WHO official denies lying to Italy prosecutors over report

A top World Health Organization official has strongly denied making false statements to Italian prosecutors about a spiked U.N. report into Italy’s coronavirus response

ROME -- A top World Health Organization official has strongly denied making false statements to Italian prosecutors about a spiked U.N. report into Italy’s coronavirus response, doubling down on his assertions in court documents obtained by The Associated Press. Dr. Ranieri Guerra, a WHO special adviser, outlined his position in a 40-page response, with a 495-page annex, to prosecutors who placed him under investigation last month for having allegedly made false statements to them when he was questioned Nov. 5. The prosecutors’ claims create a picture “that is quite different from the reality of the facts and above all, are imprecise and don’t adhere to the reconstruction of events that Dr. Guerra provided,” said the response signed by Guerra’s Rome-based attorney, Roberto De Vita. Prosecutors are investigating the huge COVID-19 death toll in the Lombardy province of Bergamo, which was hit hardest when Italy became the epicenter of the pandemic in Europe last year. Their investigation initially focused on whether delayed lockdowns in Bergamo contributed to the toll, but has expanded to include whether Italy’s overall preparedness going into the crisis played a role.