The first instance is obvious. For a body which confines its pronouncements to established facts of medical science, declaration on a certain date that a contagion has become pandemic does not mean that body had no idea how dangerous the contagion is prior to that date. Pandemic is not a term simply slanged about, it has a definite meaning --- a contagion which is spreading everywhere. Note that meaning does not reference the danger posed by the contagion to persons who contract it. the term has nothing to do with whether a contagion is deadly or relatively benign. It merely refers to how wide-spread it has become.
As for the second instance, here is a link to actual statements of the World Health Organization, which runs back to January (though one must scroll down a good ways to reach the bottom of the page):
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/events-as-they-happen
Some items of note from mid-January:
"WHO issues its first guidance on the novel coronavirus
10 January 2020
Developed with reference to other coronaviruses, such as SARS and MERS, WHO issued a tool for countries to check their ability to detect and respond to a novel coronavirus.
This information is to help with identifying main gaps, assessing risks and planning for additional investigations, response and control actions."
"First case of novel coronavirus outside of China confirmed
13 January 2020
Officials confirmed a case of the novel coronavirus in Thailand. It was not unexpected that cases of the novel coronavirus would emerge outside of China and reinforces why WHO calls for active monitoring and preparedness in other countries."
You are welcome to attempt interpreting these as indication that "In mid-January 2020, WHO said that covid-19 was under control in China, and not a problem for other countries."
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