More questions than answers regarding the corona virus;
1) The WHO is hardcore towing the line that China is reacting exactly as they should to this virus. No comments that I saw about whether or not they are actually welding shut the doors on apartment buildings, forcefully imprisoning even long-shot possible cases, or housing people under quarantine in crowded conditions without sufficient space or division between beds to prevent transfer of pathogens or infection from bed to bed.
2) No address of the question whether China is purposefully under reporting the numbers of infected and dead. Several independent epidemiologists have published papers showing that roughly 80-90% of the cases are going unreported in “official” numbers. Also, and this is important, no direct answer about the question of China’s changing how they are recording “confirmed” cases of the virus. The recent announcement that China is no longer counting asymptomatic, but lab-confirmed infections as “confirmed” cases since they are not displaying symptoms of the disease (at this time). The WHO spokespeople somehow tried to spin that as “casting a finer net” and that it will result in MORE, not FEWER cases. This seems blatantly false, especially since China acknowledges that some of these asymptomatic cases may develop full-blown disease later, at which time they will magically go from “not a case” to a “confirmed case” of the virus.
This change of reporting procedure is very important as it’s unclear how much of the “drop” in confirmed case count in China is due to this change in recording standards. This drop in case numbers, however, IS being treated as if it’s indicative of a reduction in actual infections. Given the change in recording, that is questionable at best.
3) WHO is pushing “solidarity” over criticism of the CCP. This is cause for concern for those of us in other nations where the virus is already beginning to show signs of person-person transmission. What it really says, to me anyway, is that even IF the reports coming out about Chinese authorities imprisoning those trying to spread the word about real numbers, forcefully detaining even potentially exposed people for quarantine, enforced isolation via doors welded shut (and the fire/safety hazard that presents) and other measures are fully endorsed by the WHO.
4) In spite of mounting evidence that containment is NOT working, the WHO is still presenting this as a viable and currently successful strategy for combating the virus. With a confirmed possible incubation period of up to 24 days, VERY easy person-person transmission, and a very extended period of illness (20+ days in ICU in many cases) this confidence is containment would appear misplaced. The issue of containment becomes more pressing given the recent change in China’s reporting standards given that there is a strong possibility that asymptomatic cases may develop symptoms days, or even weeks after the confirmed presence of the virus via laboratory results. It’s also questionable given the fact that the extreme quarantine measures in place in Wuhan are still very new. There’s a good chance given the density of the population in the quarantine centers, and the lack of effective barrier protection in the lower levels of quarantine, and the real chance that these centers could serve to amplify the virus in those conditions.
5) There was no mention that I saw of growing evidence that the Chinese government knew there were cases of this virus going back to early December, if not late November, and what that could potentially mean for the current situation and efforts at containment. No mention of the problem of potentially hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Wuhan citizens who left the city prior to the lockdown.
Another HUGE red flag that the CCP is not being totally forthcoming with the situation on the ground. They still have not requested CDC assistance. Given the size and scope of the outbreak you would think they would at least want help with the epidemiological nightmare of contact tracing the movements of +45k confirmed cases. The fact that they have had a very “closed doors” approach to this virus when it comes to both international assistance and internal voices disseminating information should be a cause for concern.
The WHO seems to be working very hard to convince the world that China is in control of the situation. China seems to be working very hard to convince the world that they are in control of the situation. In my experience, the only real reason to work very hard to convince someone you’re in control is when you’re NOT really in control.