Since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic we've been moving through these stages collectively and as individuals - some people (and nations) more successfully than others.

Now denial is no longer an option for Donald Trump, he's moved to anger, blaming China, the World Health Organisation and god knows who else for the current crisis.

As tempting as the blame game can be, this is not the time.

In the months following the immediate crisis nations will undoubtedly evaluate how they handled the pandemic and identify where they could have done better.

But to place the full blame for a highly contagious virus at the feet of China or the WHO shows a profound lack of understanding.

New viruses arise all the time - like a new breed of dog (oodles, anyone?) or a new variety of finch. But viruses are much smaller than dogs and finches, so they can evolve far more rapidly.

Mad cow disease came from England, swine flu was first detected in America.

While there are animal husbandry and preparation practices that lent a helping hand to the evolution of these diseases, until we all live like Seinfeld's "bubble boy" the rise of new viruses is inevitable.

China's large population and wild animal wet markets didn't help - but they're not evidence of negligence or malice either.

Could the new virus have been identified and made public earlier? Absolutely.

But it's difficult for a doctor anywhere in the world to tell the difference between an ordinary flu and a virus no one has ever seen before when their symptoms are so similar.

Identification takes time, and it's not uncommon for governments to drag their feet when addressing a potential crisis - much like the summer bushfires in Australia, the severity of the situation is often unclear until it's too late.

Which leads us to the WHO.

The WHO's role is to "direct and coordinate international health within the United Nations system."

Their main areas of work are health systems; health through the life-course; noncommunicable and communicable diseases; preparedness, surveillance and response; and corporate services.

As part of the UN they can monitor diseases and their spread, and give advice. But they can't force governments to take that advice.

On December 31, 2019, China reported a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan.

By January 10, WHO had issued advice to all nations on how to detect, test and manage potential cases.

By January 30, the WHO declared the virus an international public health emergency.

It's a pretty speedy timeline to get international agreement on anything - and gave governments the opportunity to act early.

Many chose not to. We are seeing the consequences of those decisions now.

To strip funding from the organisation responsible for keeping us aware of disease outbreaks around the world is as irresponsible as stripping funding from the RFS after the bushfires.

We should be fighting the virus, not the organisations on the front line.