In a secret teleconference, top Chinese health officials called the coronavirus outbreak the “most severe challenge since SARS” _ nearly a week before alerting the public, documents show.
In this Tuesday, March 10, 2020, photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping talks by video with patients and medical workers at the Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province. Top Chinese officials secretly determined they were likely facing a pandemic from a novel coronavirus in mid-January, ordering preparations even as they downplayed it in public.
“This is tremendous,” said Zuo-Feng Zhang, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. “If they took action six days earlier, there would have been much fewer patients and medical facilities would have been sufficient. We might have avoided the collapse of Wuhan’s medical system.”
But what is clear, experts say, is that China’s rigid controls on information, bureaucratic hurdles and a reluctance to send bad news up the chain of command muffled early warnings.broadcast on national television on Jan. 2, sent a chill through the city’s hospitals. “Allegations of a cover-up or lack of transparency in China are groundless,” said foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian at a Thursday press conference.The documents show that the head of China’s National Health Commission, Ma Xiaowei, laid out a grim assessment of the situation on Jan. 14 in a confidential teleconference with provincial health officials.
“With the coming of the Spring Festival, many people will be traveling, and the risk of transmission and spread is high,” the memo continued. “All localities must prepare for and respond to a pandemic.”
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Hand sanitizer makers ask Trump for China tariff relief amid shortagesOver the past three weeks, more than 100 requests have been filed with federal trade authorities asking for relief from tariffs on hand sanitizer, disinfectants and thermometers and other products made in China to help fight the spread of the coronavirus.
Read more »
China toughens restrictions on border with Russia as imported coronavirus cases hit recordChinese cities near the border with Russia said on Sunday they would tighten border controls and quarantine measures on arrivals from abroad after the number of imported cases of COVID-19 hit a record high.
Read more »
China rejects accusation of anti-African bias in fighting coronavirusChinese officials rejected claims of discriminatory policies towards Africans in how it is mitigating the coronavirus spread on Monday, saying it treats foreign nationals equal to its citizens.
Read more »
The U.S. vs. China: Who Is Winning the Key Technology Battles?China thinks its AI industry will be worth $150 billion in 10 years. But the U.S. has an edge—for now.
Read more »
China in the driver's seat amid calls for Africa debt reliefSupport is growing for debt relief to help the world's poorest, indebted nations - most of them in Africa - confront the economic havoc wreaked by COVID-19. But there is one big question mark: China.
Read more »
China approves two experimental coronavirus vaccines to enter clinical trialsChina has approved early-stage human tests for two experimental vaccines to combat the new coronavirus that killed over 100,000 people worldwide, state media Xinhua reported on Tuesday.
Read more »