Suspicion Mounts over China’s Counting of COVID-19 Cases

Though China has declared that it has taken control over all the major hotspots of the coronavirus; health authorities are now reporting asymptomatic cases of COVID-19. This comes during growing speculations of higher number of deaths and increased political suspicion of a conspiracy behind the coronavirus. Complete Coverage: Coronavirus

Crux of the Matter

COVID-19 has crossed 1 million figure with almost 70,000 deaths. The USA is now the most affected country with more than 300,000 cases followed by Spain, Italy, and Germany. People in China still fear that as the lockdown is lifted they might get infected without knowing if they carry the virus as they show no symptoms and thus have not been tested. The chances of the spread of a 2nd wave are also possible which can be more dangerous. The National Health Commission in China has always maintained that asymptomatic cases should not be counted in its confirmed case total. The Chinese government has now ordered health authorities to find these asymptomatic cases. Following which the Liaoning province was the first to report 52 such cases as on March 31. Hunan province reported 4 such cases which are all claimed to be from abroad on their website. The number of such cases has been kept classified by the Chinese Health authorities and it hasn’t been included in the official data. The local media reports of more than 40,000 such cases.

Ban on Wet Markets The Chinese government had announced a permanent ban on the sale and consumption of wild animals in February; however, according to some news reports the wet animal markets are now reopening in Wuhan and other parts of China. The city of Shenzhen became the first city in China to ban the consumption and trade of dogs and cats under its new legislation Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Regulations on the Comprehensive Ban on Wild Animals. This new law also prohibits the breeding, sale, and consumption of protected wildlife species, including snakes and lizards.

Interesting study published (non-peer-reviewed) today by Prof @alexlachmann, that estimates CoVID-19 cases in China could be as high as 702,000 and not 80,000 as reported. https://t.co/WWAjzRkcyo pic.twitter.com/fc9MIus6cO — Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) March 21, 2020

Chinese Telecom Sector China’s telecom operators have reported a major drop in the number of users. The world’s largest carrier China Mobile Ltd. reported its first net decline since 2000. China Telecom Corp. and China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd have lost 5.6 million and 1.2 million users respectively. A partial reason for the drop is assumed to be caused by migrant workers who have one subscription for where they work and another for their home region.

Long Queues to collect Urns China has officially reported 81,708 cases of the coronavirus and 3,331 deaths. There are several doubts now being raised over the transparency on the asymptomatic cases being hidden by the Chinese government. The death toll in China doesn’t seem to match up in terms of fatality rates. Public-health experts have repeatedly said that the actual number of COVID-19 cases is much higher than the reported case count. Photos and videos through local media sources show long queues outside funeral homes to collect the remains of their family members. According to the reports, 7 funeral homes in Wuhan have disposed of an estimated 42,000 corpses and are handing out 3000 urns per day. There are many such calculations being made to find out the actual number of deaths. A report by Caixin Media investigated new asymptomatic cases in Wuhan province and questioned a truck driver who confessed to delivering 5000 urns in 2 days. They also published photos of more than 3000 stacked urns. Another calculation on the basis of the number of furnaces and their running assumes the death toll to be nearly 46800. Due to the censorship laws prevalent in China, the government has taken down photos and videos showcasing long queues and stacked urns from social media and the internet. Also, the Chinese Communist government is seen to propagate biased news highlighting their efforts and helps offered to different countries to establish themselves as a global leader.

Global Criticism and Pressure Questions are being raised over WHO Director-General Tedros not taking steps in time to control the outbreak and biased towards China. Tedros has time and again defended and praised China for its efforts and portrayed them as a global leader. Many countries see him unfit to lead the WHO and manage any crisis.

For the first time, #China has reported no domestic #COVID19 cases yesterday. This is an amazing achievement, which gives us all reassurance that the #coronavirus can be beaten. https://t.co/py3Ka2cbLK — Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) March 20, 2020

When the US had taken a firm step to close its borders on Jan 31, he had criticised it by saying “widespread travel bans and restrictions were not needed to stop the outbreak and could have the effect of increasing fear and stigma.” He had also advised other countries not to follow the U.S. US President Donald Trump from the beginning has been terming the coronavirus as ‘Chinese Virus’ and now also has doubted the accuracy of the official figures in China. In a recent press conference, he said, “How do we know if they are accurate. Their numbers seem to be a little bit on the light side.” The UK government has accused China of mismanagement and spreading disinformation about the severity of the COVID-19. PM Boris Johnson, who has himself been hospitalised with COVID-19, is furious and is also reconsidering the decision to allow Huawei to manage UK’s 5G network. As China announced an aid of $20 million for helping poor countries it is seen to be using the outbreak to boost its reputation for “global cooperation”.

Curiopedia

Censorship in the People’s Republic of China is implemented or mandated by the PRC’s ruling party, the Communist Party of China (CPC). The government censors content for mainly political reasons, but also to maintain its control over the populace. The Chinese government asserts that it has the legal right to control the Internet’s content within their territory and that their censorship rules do not infringe on the citizen’s right to free speech. The government maintains censorship over all media capable of reaching a wide audience. This includes television, print media, radio, film, theatre, text messaging, instant messaging, video games, literature, and the Internet. Chinese officials have access to uncensored information via an internal document system. More Info

Curated Coverage

1. News 18 – Does China Have 40,000 Asymptomatic Virus Cases? Officials Release Secret Data of ‘Uncounted’ Figures

2. Zee News – Coronavirus COVID-19: Shenzhen becomes first Chinese city to ban consumption of cats and dogs

3. Times Of India – Donald Trump Doubts on Chinese Coronavirus Figures

4. France 24 – Stacks of urns in Wuhan raise doubts about China’s official virus toll

5. Radio Free Asia – Estimates Show Wuhan Death Toll Far Higher Than Official Figure

6. The Hill – China and the WHO’s chief: Hold them both accountable for pandemic

7. The Guardian – China’s reaction to the coronavirus outbreak violates human rights

8. Xinhua Net – Commentary: China’s virus battle unites people, protects world

9. Business Insider – Wuhan’s death toll could be astronomically higher than the Chinese government has reported, some residents say

10. Fox News – China’s relationship with WHO chief in wake of coronavirus outbreak under the microscope

11. Washington Post – Chinese officials note serious problems in coronavirus response. The World Health Organization keeps praising them.

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