An independent panel reviewing the global handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has issued criticism that the World Health Organization(WHO) and China should have reacted sooner in the early stages of the pandemic.

Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response(IPPR) issued the criticism in its latest interim report on Monday. 

The panel questioned why the WHO's Emergency Committee did not meet until the third week of January of last year and did not declare an international emergency until January 30. 

The report also said it's clear that Chinese officials could have applied public health measures more forcefully in January last year to curb the initial COVID-19 outbreak. 

The panel, led by former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, issued its first interim report last year.