Chinese government to blame for lack of early Coronavirus response worldwide

Posted October 2020

By Taj O'Malley

Staff Editor

Irresponsible, secretive, and judgement-poor are the traits most suitable for our world leaders as the world faces the devastation of the novel Coronavirus. As early as Nov. 17, 2019, the Chinese government knew of a potential Coronavirus outbreak—and did nothing. Meanwhile, the WHO’s lack of proper and timely judgement in its attempts to learn about the Coronavirus allowed for the Coronavirus to spread without restriction for long enough that a global pandemic would ensue.

According to ¨unreleased¨ Chinese government data reported by the South China Morning Post, the first time the Chinese government knew of a Coronavirus case was Nov. 17, 2019.

“...[T]he government records have not been released to the public,” stated South China Morning Post, referring to the records containing knowledge of the coronavirus.

The South China Morning Post further stated that Chinese authorities did not know they had a new virus on their hands until December.

This lack of transparency from the Chinese government is made suspicious by the fact that China has seen a virus like COVID-19 before. In 2002, there was a SARS outbreak that began in Guangdong, China.

SARS spread across 29 countries and regions, infecting 8,096 persons with probable SARS, and resulting in 774 deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

We can assume that this outbreak provided China with knowledge of how easily a “SARS” outbreak can occur, making their lack of action and transparency when face-to-face with a virus in November (that according to the U.S National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health, “...share[s] almost 80% of the genome with SARS‐CoV...”) highly suspicious.

From Nov. 17 onwards, the virus began to spread in China.

“[There were] one to five new cases reported each day. By December 15, the total number of infections stood at 27 – the first double-digit daily rise was reported on December 17 – and by December 20, the total number of confirmed cases had reached 60,” states the South China Morning Post.

The virus was spreading, and no action had been taken by the Chinese government in regards to the virus. In fact, the only actions made by the Chinese government were actions to silence those who knew most about it. According to the South China Morning Post, Dr. Ai Fen from the Wuhan Central Hospital told People magazine that she diagnosed a patient with an unknown coronavirus on Dec. 16. During this People interview, Dr. Ai Fen suggested that Chinese authorities had an early opportunity to issue a warning over the virus, but one must assume that this ¨opportunity¨ had been missed, given that the interview was censored by Chinese officials.

Dr. Li Wenliang also experienced a similar censorship: ¨Last December [Wenliang] sent a message to fellow medics warning of a virus he thought looked like Sars—another deadly coronavirus. But he was told by police to "stop making false comments" and was investigated for "spreading rumours,¨ states the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

Dr. Li would tragically pass away after contracting the Coronavirus.

Outside of China, no one would know of the Coronavirus until Dec. 31, 2019. It was on this day that the World Health Organization (WHO) would receive reports of early Wuhan outbreaks from the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission. These reports would be announced by the WHO on Jan. 4, via Twitter.

It should be stated that according to the WHO, the Coronavirus was investigated as soon as its existence was known. So, in reference to who may be liable for ignoring early warning signs, the Chinese government has to be acknowledged. The evidence presented has made it clear that the Chinese government was well aware of a Coronavirus outbreak prior to its announcement of an outbreak existing to the WHO.

Now, when most people consider their idea of the Coronavirus timeline, the WHO’s Jan. 4 Tweet seems ultramodern, but this is not the case.

“A patient treated in a hospital near Paris on 27 December for suspected pneumonia actually had the coronavirus, his doctor has said. This means the virus may have arrived in Europe almost a month earlier than previously thought,” states the BBC. “The patient, who has since recovered, said he had no idea where he caught the virus as he had not travelled abroad.”

Remember, when the WHO began to investigate and issue warning over a potential Coronavirus spread, there were no regulations in place. With no regulations in place, and confirmation that the Coronavirus unknowingly existed in France in late December (one of the busiest travel periods in the year), the Coronavirus was given an almost perfect opportunity to spread freely around the Earth.

Given that the virus was likely active everywhere by the beginning of 2020, the WHO’s warnings and investigations around that time period were not just late, but useless to people at high risk of death, given that no regulation was mandated at all during this time.

Once again, I will say that there was not much the WHO could have done in time, given that the Chinese government was late to notify them of such a virus existing, but it is my belief that the WHO had poor judgement when it finally learned about the Coronavirus. With knowledge of SARS deadliness surely understood by the WHO, a mere rumor of a Coronavirus breakout in China should have sparked immediate and deep investigation and the pressing of the Chinese government.

Even after many meetings and Coronavirus investigations throughout January that concluded in labeling the Coronavirus a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC),” the WHO did not recommend any travel or trade restrictions. Despite the WHO’s lack of recommendation, President Trump issued a travel restriction from China on Feb. 2, but according to The Washington Post, the restrictions did not help slow the spread of the virus.

The President was aware of the danger surrounding the Coronavirus as late as Feb. 7, but did nothing because he, “did not want to create a panic,” but panic would ensue later anyway, making his lack of action unjustifiable and infuriating. However, had the President acted upon his knowledge, the U.S. would have implemented restrictions one month before other nations implemented their lockdowns (according to BBC), and the Coronavirus would have still been devastating to the United States.

“Two notable cases of COVID-19 occurred in Santa Clara County, California: one in a woman who became ill on January 31 and died on February 6 and another in an unrelated man who died at home between February 13 and 17,” states the CDC. “Neither had traveled internationally in the weeks preceding their deaths.”

By as early Jan. 31, the virus had arrived in the United States, and because of the irresponsibility of the Chinese government, the poor judgement of the WHO, and President Trump’s lack of action upon learning about the virus’s danger, a pandemic was impending on the U.S and many would suffer.