China’s deadly coronavirus may have the same death rate as Spanish flu, an expert has warned.
Deaths from the new virus rose to 17 on last Wednesday with thousandss of cases now confirmed, increasing fears of widespread contagion.
The previously unknown flu-like coronavirus strain is believed to have emerged from an animal market in central Wuhan city, with cases now detected as far away as the US.
The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 is widely regarded as “the deadliest in history”, and is believed to have infected around
China’s deadly coronavirus may have the same death rate as Spanish flu, an expert has warned.
Then, going back a couple of years, we find this news article in 2017;
A laboratory in Wuhan built in cooperation with theUS CDC, is on the cusp of being cleared to work with the world’s most dangerous pathogens. The move is part of a plan to build between five and seven biosafety level-4 (BSL-4) labs across the Chinese mainland by 2025, and has generated much excitement, as well as some concerns.
Some scientists outside China worry about pathogens escaping, and the addition of a biological dimension to geopolitical tensions between China and other nations. But Chinese microbiologists are celebrating their entrance to the elite cadre empowered to wrestle with the world’s greatest biological threats.
“It will offer more opportunities for Chinese researchers, and our contribution on the BSL‑4-level pathogens will benefit the world,” says George Gao, director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology in Beijing. There are already two BSL-4 labs in Taiwan, but the National Bio-safety Laboratory, Wuhan, would be the first on the Chinese mainland.
The lab was certified as meeting the standards and criteria of BSL-4 by the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS) in January. The CNAS examined the lab’s infrastructure, equipment and management, says a CNAS representative, paving the way for the Ministry of Health to give its approval. A representative from the ministry says it will move slowly and cautiously; if the assessment goes smoothly, it could approve the laboratory by the end of June 2017.
All this is just a strange coincidence, I’m sure.
The Chinese government has cancelled most of the public celebrations for the Chinese New Year after quarantining a number of Chinese cities with populations of over 20 million affected. Such draconian quarantines are unprecedented, and, with the delay in restricting travel for the Chinese New Year of questionable effectiveness. What this shows, if nothing else, is that the Chinese government is spooked by this way more than would be justified by the official numbers.
With outbreaks of cases in Viet Nam, Thailand, Japan, The US, Mexico, Dubai and suspected cases in Scotland, the Chinese infection numbers are so much “Hokum”.
Just look at the statistical chance that 4000 infected people happened to have infected three travelers to Scotland. Zero Chance there may be 100,000 thousands of infections by now to translate to 3 upper class Chinese travelers arriving in Scotland at the same time.
Unless it was a coordinated Biologic attack… or an accidental release.