With Beijing desperate to avoid blame for a virus that killed more than 1.8 million people worldwide, China is reinforcing its story about the spread of the coronavirus pandemic before an investigation by the World Health Organization (WHO) to avoid being held responsible, according to reports.
The independent WHO investigation – which is expected to take about four to five weeks – will involve a team of 10, one of whom told BBC News last month that it was not about finding a “guilty country”. In March 2020, Dr. Gauden Galea, leader of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said the intention is to learn how similar pandemics could be prevented in the coming years.
On Tuesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was “disappointed” that Chinese officials have not yet finalized permits for the team to arrive.
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In China, COVID-19 – which was first reported in the eastern city of Wuhan – infected at least 96,278 and killed more than 4,787 people, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
However, a recent study by the CDC of China found that the number of cases in Wuhan alone may have been 10 times greater than originally reported.
They would not be the only country to underreport data. In December, Russia admitted that the number of deaths from the pandemic was more than three times higher than initially reported.
In this photo released by the Xinhua News Agency, visitors to Tiananmen Square wave Chinese national flags while participating in the flag-raising ceremony at Tiananmen Square in Beijing Friday, January 1, 2021. (Ju Huanzong / Xinhua via AP)
Now, compared to some countries like Brazil, most of China appears to have slowed the virus to a sudden stop.
However, China regularly dismisses the rhetoric of leaders like President Trump, who largely deflected any blame for the pandemic, calling it the “China virus” or “kung flu”.
Republican senators followed suit, and the Senate Homeland Security Committee – led by Wisconsin Republican Party senator Ron Johnson – announced in April that it would conduct a “broad” oversight investigation into the origins of the virus, as well as the WHO Response. .
Even so, researchers from WHO and the United States are unlikely to be allowed to properly inspect some of the most sensitive aspects of the outbreak, signaled by recent efforts by state media.
Some reports used the work of German scientist Alexander Kekulé to blame Italy for the extent of the outbreak and others claim that the coronavirus came from packaged foods from abroad.
Chinese scientists released an article assuming that the pandemic could have started in India, according to The New York Times.
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Even a senior Chinese diplomat, Wang Yi, argued that “more and more studies” show that the coronavirus has emerged in several regions.
While scientists working to end the pandemic may need accurate information to do so, the global policy associated with what Kekulé calls “pure propaganda” can impede progress.