Tipsheet

China Knew and Now We Have Something Deadlier Than the Flu

China lied and people died. That’s a fact. Tired of being cooped up inside, do you miss sports, do you miss being outside with friends at BBQs and bars? We all do—and you should blame China for torpedoing pretty much everyone’s lives because of their incompetence. This government, which already kills its own people, decided to go for a grand slam hit of spreading this pneumonia-like virus, known as the Wuhan coronavirus, everywhere. It’s a pandemic. Oh, and now the Associated Press reports that China knew this virus would become a global pandemic, but sat on its hands for nearly a week—A WEEK:

In the six days after top Chinese officials secretly determined they likely were facing a pandemic from a new coronavirus, the city of Wuhan at the epicenter of the disease hosted a mass banquet for tens of thousands of people; millions began traveling through for Lunar New Year celebrations.

President Xi Jinping warned the public on the seventh day, Jan. 20. But by that time, more than 3,000 people had been infected during almost a week of public silence, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press and expert estimates based on retrospective infection data.

Six days.

That delay from Jan. 14 to Jan. 20 was neither the first mistake made by Chinese officials at all levels in confronting the outbreak, nor the longest lag, as governments around the world have dragged their feet for weeks and even months in addressing the virus.

But the delay by the first country to face the new coronavirus came at a critical time — the beginning of the outbreak. China’s attempt to walk a line between alerting the public and avoiding panic set the stage for a pandemic that has infected more than 2 million people and taken more than 128,000 lives.

China kept its medical crews in the dark, prevented doctors from reporting new cases, and disappeared blogger and medical professional who tried to raise the red flag. But we can’t blame China, says Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) because Trump is president. Reagan wrote up what looks like the Connecticut liberal’s interview to become China’s de facto Senate liaison in spreading misinformation on the Hill. 

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