It's unclear to me why you think this article is exculpatory.
I did, however, fall for the "masks aren't necessary for the general public" line that the CDC was pushing for a while. I was doubly stupid, because I had a small stock of N95's from the recent California wildfires that I didn't even use. I'm now wearing one every time I go out other than to walk my dog. Fortunately, I have not (yet) had symptoms of the virus, and I hope I can avoid it for as long as possible, because I have mild asthma and a heart murmur, and don't really need any more cardiorespiratory issues.
1) The WHO is/was too cozy with China
2) The WHO is/was against facemasks
but
3) China and other Asian countries set an example of using facemasks which Westerners should do too.
These aren't exactly necessarily precisely contradictory things, but put them together and they make the anti-WHO narrative feel wrong and forced.
Anti-WHO narrative? The WHO failed to do its job warning earlier about the severity of this crisis and issuing guidelines that would have helped contries and people prepare. Their current leadership should at least resign at this point.