Author: Feng Yanxiyu
On March 20th, Mr. Geng, the spokesperson, once again announced in detail that since January 3rd, China has been regularly reporting information on the Wuhan epidemic and prevention measures to the United States. Mr. Geng said:
On January 3rd, China began to regularly report epidemic information and prevention measures to the United States.
On January 4th, the heads of the two countries' CDCs had a phone call. China reported the situation and both sides agreed to maintain close communication on information exchange and technical cooperation.
On January 25th, President Trump tweeted that the Chinese people have been working very hard to contain the new coronavirus, and the United States appreciates China's efforts and transparency.
On January 27th, the heads of the health departments of China and the United States had a phone call. The US side expressed appreciation for the transparency shown by the Chinese government in epidemic prevention and control, as well as the ongoing health cooperation between the two sides.
On January 29th, the Chinese National Health Commission informed the United States through official channels that it welcomes the United States to join the WHO joint expert team. The US side replied on the same day expressing gratitude.
On February 7th, the leaders of China and the United States had a phone call. President Trump positively evaluated China's response to the epidemic and tweeted on the same day that China is taking strict prevention and control measures and will succeed. We are closely cooperating with China.
On February 8th, the heads of the health departments of the two countries communicated again on the arrangements for US experts to participate in the China-WHO joint expert investigation team.
On February 11th, the heads of the two countries' CDCs exchanged views on epidemiological technical issues and related prevention and control strategies.
From February 16th to 24th, the China-WHO joint expert investigation team, including two American experts, conducted a 9-day investigation in China, fully affirming and highly evaluating China's epidemic prevention and control measures. It particularly pointed out that China has played a crucial role in protecting the international community, gaining valuable time for countries to take active prevention and control measures, and providing valuable experience to learn from.
On March 12th, the US Embassy in China attended the international briefing on sharing China's experience in preventing and treating COVID-19, jointly organized by the Chinese National Health Commission and the WHO.
On March 13th, President Trump told reporters that the data shared by China has helped the US in fighting the epidemic.
Mr. Geng, the spokesperson, summarized: "From the above facts, it is clear that in the past two months, China has timely provided information to the United States and carried out technical cooperation. In the past two months, the Chinese people have united as one and made great efforts to fight the epidemic, winning valuable time for the world to fight the epidemic. Unfortunately, even many media and experts in the United States believe that the US has wasted and squandered the precious time obtained from China."
Another spokesperson, Ms. Hua, also revealed in the first regular press conference after the Spring Festival this year: Since January 3rd, China has reported epidemic information and prevention measures to the United States 30 times. At the same time, this spokesperson accused the US of causing 19 million infections and at least 10,000 deaths during the flu season from 2019 to 2020, while China had confirmed 17,205 cases and 361 deaths from COVID-19 as of February 2nd, with only 11 confirmed cases in the United States. However, the US was the first to withdraw its consulate personnel from Wuhan, the first to propose the partial withdrawal of embassy personnel, and the first to announce comprehensive restrictions on Chinese citizens entering the country, constantly creating and spreading panic, which had a very negative impact.
These statements sparked heated discussions online at the time. China reported epidemic information and prevention measures to the United States 30 times since January 3rd, but such important epidemic information and prevention measures were kept from the people of Wuhan, and the people of the whole country did not know about it until January 23rd when 84-year-old Dr. Zhong Nanshan tearfully made an urgent appeal to the whole country. Why didn't they disclose any epidemic information and prevention measures to the people of Wuhan during those 20 days?
What I am more curious about is what epidemic information and prevention measures China actually reported to the United States. If they told the US that there was no human-to-human transmission and the epidemic was preventable and controllable, then the Chinese people have nothing to say, and the US was also deceived. President Trump's optimistic mood would also be speechless. If the content they reported to the US was different from what the Chinese people knew, then President Trump would be in trouble. He would not only face criticism but also possible legal action because he concealed the true information reported by China from the American people, missed the critical moment of epidemic prevention and control, and would be held accountable.
As we all know, January 3rd, when China reported epidemic information and prevention measures to the United States, was the important day when the first whistleblower, Dr. Li Wenliang, was reprimanded by the local police station. Under pressure, Dr. Li Wenliang admitted that the information he spread about human-to-human transmission was false, but in fact, the relevant departments knew that the epidemic information was more serious than what Dr. Li Wenliang spread, but it was concealed at that time, without letting the people of Wuhan or the people of the whole country know.
On March 13th, media under Jack Ma's Alibaba revealed that the first patient was diagnosed in November last year, earlier than the WHO's record on December 8th. By January 1st, there were already 381 confirmed cases, but by January 11th, only 41 cases were reported. This report was published on the official website of the National Health Commission on January 11th. According to the report, based on the information known to the authorities, the first confirmed patient was a 55-year-old patient on November 17th. There were 1 to 5 new confirmed cases every day after that, and by December 15th, there were 27 cumulative confirmed cases. On December 17th, the number of new cases exceeded 10 for the first time. Three days later, on December 20th, there were already 60 confirmed cases.
On December 27th, Dr. Zhang Jixian from Hubei Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital reported to the health department that this disease originated from a novel coronavirus and there were already over 180 confirmed cases at that time. By December 31st, there were 266 confirmed cases, which increased to 381 on January 1st, 2020. The doctors at Jinyintan Hospital, which was the first to admit patients with Wuhan pneumonia, published a research report in the internationally renowned medical journal The Lancet, defining the first known infection case on December 1st.
The magazine "People" interviewed Ai Fen, the director of the Emergency Department of Wuhan Central Hospital, at the beginning of the month. On March 10th, the article "The Whistleblower" went viral on the Internet. Ai Fen revealed that through testing at Wuhan Central Hospital, one patient had already been diagnosed with this coronavirus on December 16th. Ai Fen, based on her own experience, exposed the hospital's cover-up of the epidemic and the suppression of so-called "rumor spreaders" like her and the late Dr. Li Wenliang, which caused great losses to the medical staff at Wuhan Central Hospital. After the article was published on March 10th, it faced rare censorship across the Internet.
A investigation report by Caixin also revealed some important information. Zhao Su, the director of the Respiratory Department of Wuhan Central Hospital, said that on December 24th last year, the hospital sent the first sample of a Wuhan pneumonia patient from the Huanan Seafood Market to a third-party testing institution for genetic testing. Three days later, on December 27th, the testing institution called and informed them that the test result was "a new coronavirus." On the same day, researchers obtained a nearly complete viral genome sequence from an early case sample and communicated with the hospital and the CDC, but did not receive a response.
When Li Wenliang and others from Wuhan Central Hospital issued a warning message through WeChat group on December 30th, they were quickly "debunked" by the authorities. Eight of them were reprimanded by the police, and on January 2nd, CCTV and provincial TV stations broadcasted the news of the punishment of these eight people for spreading false information. An employee of a genetic sequencing company revealed that on January 1st, they received a call from officials of the Hubei Provincial Health Commission, informing them not to test any more samples of Wuhan pneumonia cases, and all existing samples must be destroyed. They were also warned not to disclose sample information to the public or publish related papers and data.
The report also revealed that on January 3rd, the Office of the National Health Commission issued a document titled "Notice on Strengthening the Management of Biological Sample Resources and Related Research Activities in the Prevention and Control of Major Infectious Diseases," which stipulated that without approval, no organization or individual should provide biological samples and related information to institutions and individuals without authorization. According to virologists, after the notice was issued, the Wuhan Institute of Virology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was required to stop pathogen testing and destroy existing samples.
The report emphasized that the Wuhan Institute of Virology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences received the virus sample on December 30th and completed the virus gene sequencing, isolation, and obtaining the viral strain, and announced the viral genome sequence on January 11th, 15 days after the first gene sequencing confirmed the new coronavirus on December 27th. However, those few days were the critical moment that should have determined the fate of countless people, but the society, including the people of Wuhan, was completely unaware.
Another detail that should not be overlooked is that as early as January 5th, Professor Zhang Yongzhen, from the School of Public Health at Fudan University and an academician of the Chinese CDC, had already completed the full genome sequencing. On the same day, the Shanghai Public Health Center immediately reported to the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission and the National Health Commission, reminding them that the new virus is similar to SARS and suggesting measures to prevent the spread of the epidemic because the symptoms of the sample collection source were very severe. On January 6th, the Chinese CDC internally initiated a level 2 emergency response.
At that time, the public was still informed that there were no new confirmed cases in Wuhan since January 3rd and no obvious signs of human-to-human transmission. On January 7th, based on the genetic sequencing, the Zhang Yongzhen team submitted a paper to the journal Nature, clearly stating that the novel coronavirus is most closely related to two samples of bat viruses from Zhoushan (coded as CoVZC45 and CoVZXC21). Among them, the nucleotide sequence identity between the novel coronavirus and CoVZC45 is 89.1%, and the amino acid similarity between nsp7 and the envelope protein (E protein) is 100%.
On January 11th, the Shanghai expert team published the complete genome sequence of the novel coronavirus on the international virology forum website virological.org. On January 12th, the Shanghai expert team suddenly received an order to close the P3 laboratory where they were conducting research. This P3-level laboratory is located in the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center (affiliated with Fudan University), also known as the South Hospital of Fudan University Zhongshan Hospital. Why was a laboratory that was the first to publish the complete genome sequence of the novel coronavirus suddenly closed? There is no official explanation, but there must be some hidden secrets behind it.
On February 10th, Mr. Geng, the spokesperson, enthusiastically said: The COVID-19 epidemic is a common challenge facing humanity and requires the international community to work together. China's strong measures to deal with the epidemic are not only responsible for its own people but also for the whole world. In this "war" against the epidemic without gunpowder, we have used China's speed to buy valuable time for the world's epidemic prevention, used China's strength to build a solid defense line against the spread of the epidemic, and set a new benchmark for the world's epidemic prevention with China's practice.
These words are inspiring, and no one expected the virus to spread rapidly around the world. As of the morning of March 23rd, there have been a total of 253,085 confirmed cases and 11,254 deaths in 186 countries worldwide! Italy had an increase of 5,560 new confirmed cases, with a total of 59,138 confirmed cases and the death toll rising to 5,476, surpassing the officially announced death toll in China. The United States followed closely with 6,670 new cases yesterday, with a total of 33,276 confirmed cases. Spain, ranking third, had 3,774 new confirmed cases yesterday, with a total of 28,700 confirmed cases. There is almost no place in the world that has been spared in this epidemic.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization has played a role in exacerbating the epidemic. The internet has a memory. Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus epidemic, what did the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, say? On January 23rd, when Wuhan and Hubei were locked down, Tedros kept saying, "China is sharing epidemic information in a very timely manner and taking emergency measures, demonstrating a high level of transparency."
On January 28th, Tedros said, "Some countries have proposed evacuating their citizens, but the WHO does not advocate doing so. In the current situation, we should remain calm and there is no need for excessive reactions." On January 30th, the World Health Organization finally held an emergency meeting and decided to declare the Wuhan pneumonia as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, confirming that the epidemic poses a risk to countries other than China and requires a unified response from the international community. Tedros emphasized that the WHO does not advocate the evacuation of citizens from any country and stressed that there is no reason to take unnecessary measures to interfere with international travel and trade. He called on all countries to make evidence-based and consistent decisions.
On January 31st, Tedros said, "The WHO opposes any travel and trade restrictions on China." On February 4th, Tedros said, "We once again call on all countries not to take unnecessary intervention measures against international travel and trade." He further emphasized, "Such restrictions will increase fear and prejudice and have almost no benefits for public health." On February 21st, Tedros said, "The number of new cases in China continues to decline, which is encouraging." On February 24th, Tedros even praised that the epidemic had passed its peak, saying, "Using the term 'pandemic' now does not match the facts and will certainly cause panic." On March 11th, the World Health Organization and Director-General Tedros finally changed their tune and admitted, "COVID-19 is now a global pandemic."
Humans have no immunity to a certain virus, and even after infection, they still cannot develop immunity, so we can only rely on social epidemic prevention. The so-called social epidemic prevention is the process of rebuilding immunity at the social level, which compensates for individual immunity. The luckiest scenario is to develop a vaccine or effective drugs. If not, we can only rely on early warning and early isolation. Although isolation is primitive, it is effective. This epidemic quickly spread from central China to various parts of the world, and it was a great loss not to have early warning and early isolation.
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This article is automatically generated and translated from Chinese.