Dr. Anthony Fauci, a key member of the White House coronavirus task force, criticized China’s early response to the novel coronavirus pandemic, pointing to a “lack of transparency.”

“I think the Chinese authorities that did not allow the scientists to speak out as openly and transparently as they could really did a disservice,” Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during an interview with radio host John Catsimatidis on Sunday.

China has faced significant criticism for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, particularly in the early days of the outbreak as it began to spread rapidly in the city of Wuhan. Chinese authorities in the city initially attempted to silence doctors and scientists speaking out about the virus.

One of those Chinese doctors raising early alarm was Dr. Li Wenliang, who was threatened with arrest but later died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel virus. In March, China issued a formal apology to Li’s family for how he had been treated. Public health experts have said that the early efforts to suppress information about the virus allowed new infections to spread rapidly without mitigation.