[10] He was appointed co-lead of the WHO-China Joint Mission on COVID-19,[11][12] Aylward served as one of the Assistant Directors-General of the World Health Organization (WHO).

[4] On March 28, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Aylward was interviewed in The Pulse, a current affairs programme from Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK).

"[18] A WHO spokesperson later told CNN that "some people are confusing WHO's technical global public health mandate, with the mandate of countries to determine WHO's membership", adding that they have had "regular interactions" with Taiwan during the pandemic and are "taking lessons learned from all areas, including Taiwanese health authorities.

[20] An RTHK advisory panel member labeled the accusations as "nonsense", adding that she does not "understand why when a reporter is asking something relating to health, she or he has to remember there is 'One Country, Two Systems' … in line with the government or China".

[21] On 2 April, The Globe and Mail mentioned Aylward's interview as an example of the WHO's senior leadership's "striking deference" towards China, noting that the Chinese financial contribution to the WHO was minuscule relative to that of the United States.

[22] In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the health committee of the Parliament of Canada voted unanimously to issue a summons for Aylward's attendance at Ottawa.

Conservative health critic Matt Jeneroux stated that "the Canadian government has repeatedly invoked the WHO as a source of guidance that informed the decisions it made to protect Canada and it makes sense that a Canadian working in a key WHO post should explain what informed the organization's thinking"; NDP health critic Don Davies called for "accountability and transparency" from the WHO.