But this is where China's secrecy and totalitarian nature reveals itself: according to Business Insider, "China spent the crucial first days of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak arresting people who posted about it online and threatening journalists." In addition, British and American experts believe that only one in 20 cases are actually being diagnosed, so that there may be as many as 10,000 cases already in just Wuhan, and Wuhan alone could see up to 350,000 infected by the beginning of February. A woman claiming to be a nurse at a Wuhan hospital (believed to be the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital) has posted videos of what she claims are corpses being left unattended in the hallway of the hospital where she works, and further alleges that doctors are refusing to diagnose patients with the disease in order to keep down the number of "confirmed" cases. Another article claims that people seeking assistance are being turned away from overwhelmed hospitals. Meanwhile, "[h]undreds of heavy vehicles and armies of construction workers have been ordered to work day and night by the Chinese government to build a six-acre, 1,000-bed coronavirus hospital [in Wuhan] from scratch in seven days, according to state media."
Another article reports:
Disturbing videos have emerged purporting to show people collapsing in the streets of the Chinese city at the centre of the new coronavirus outbreak.And one disturbing story reports on a couple that abandoned their two children at an airport when their children were prohibited from boarding a flight because they might have been infected.
Dozens of videos tagged as coming from Wuhan show people lying in the street, being tended to by medics, or collapsing where they stand as people in face masks rush to help.
Meanwhile, here in the United States, the CDC has confirmed a second case of coronavirus. Per the article:
... the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the patient is a 60-year-old woman who traveled to Wuhan, China, where the virus originated, in late December.The first confirmed case was in the Seattle area. "The man, in his 30s, is currently being treated by a robot in a quarantined room at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett." Also, "[h]ealth officials are testing 63 people across 22 states for the deadly virus."
She arrived at O'Hare International Airport on January 13 - meaning it has been 11 days since she returned to the US - but did not begin experiencing symptoms until several days later.
In the UK, doctors "have been told to lock patients in a room and leave straight away if they suspect they have the deadly Chinese coronavirus." "The extraordinary guidance was issued by Public Health England amid fears the contagious illness has already made its way into Britain."
What I find curious, given the large number of Chinese settlements in Africa, is the complete lack of reports of infection from that continent.
Finally, although it may just be a coincidence, it is noteworthy that Wuhan is home to the Medical Research Institute at Wuhan University, which houses the biosafety level-4 (BSL-4) lab, which among other things was to study the pathogen that caused SARS. (See also: "China's first bio-safety level 4 lab put into operation"; "Inside the Chinese lab poised to study world's most dangerous pathogens").
This situation reminds me of what one of my professors told my class. He said there was a peculiar trait among some Asian cultures...most notably the Japanese and Chinese peoples...to downplay problems and to create the impression that things are better than they actually are. Looking back on how the Japanese government and media ie. "public relations" handled the Fukushima disaster, I think that professor may have had a point. Cultural quirks aside, the Chinese are also burdened with the additional obligations that come with being a Communist state..that is, they need to convince both the Chinese Citizenry and the global population that all is under control. I don't think it's working for them.
ReplyDeleteWhen I lived in Japan, we referred to it as an urge to "save face" and it drove a lot of their behaviors. For instance, Japanese are revered for their politeness, but unlike American politeness, Japanese politeness is based around not giving or receiving offense rather than caring about the other person's well being. At that time at least, Japanese people did not hold doors for another or give up a bus or train seats for someone.
Delete