Documents leaked from China show that the country in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic reported fewer cases than real, even less than half, as it underestimated the severity of the virus and failed to quickly detect new infections, according to an exclusive report. CNN.
A public health witness working in the Chinese health system leaked to CNN 117 pages of internal documents from the Regional Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the Chinese province of Hubei, whose capital is Wuhan, the city from which pandemic covid-19.
The documents, which CNN gave to six experts for confirmation, show that the Chinese Communist Party was hiding vital information about the coronavirus from October 2019 to April 2020, a critical period during which SARS-CoV -2 spread from China around the world and caused the pandemic.
China has repeatedly denied allegations by the United States and other countries that it deliberately withheld information about the coronavirus.
CNN pointed out that these documents do not show intentional concealment of information, but show that there were big discrepancies between what the officials believed and what they announced to the public.
On February 10, Chinese officials announced 2.478 new cases covid-19, bringing the total number of cases worldwide to more than 40.000. But a document labeled "internal document, please keep it confidential", the Hubei CDC recorded 5.918 new cases, with 2.345 "confirmed cases", 1.772 "clinically diagnosed cases" and 1.796 "suspicious cases".
A report from the beginning of March states that the average time between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis is 23,3 days. Experts told CNN that this would make it difficult for experts to deal with the spread of the virus.
The documents also reveal that at the end of 2019, a flu epidemic broke out in Hubei, with its incidence being 20 times higher than the previous year. This epidemic affected Wuhan, but more so the cities of Yichang and Xiang.
CNN notes that, according to the documents, the flu epidemic and the coronavirus outbreak are not linked, but the extent of the flu epidemic was not previously reported. Experts told the American television network that the flu epidemic may have made it difficult for the Chinese authorities to detect and pay attention to new viruses.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry, the National Health Commission and the Hubei Health Commission have not commented on CNN's revelations, although they have been asked.
"It was clear that they made mistakes - and not just mistakes when dealing with a new virus - but also bureaucratic and politically motivated mistakes in the way they dealt with the epidemic," said Yangzong Huang of the Council on Foreign Affairs.
"These mistakes have had a global impact. You can never guarantee that there is 100% transparency. "It does not have to be a deliberate cover-up, a new virus is limiting one to technology and other issues."
Source: Sigmalive