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Leadership: Wuhan Party Secretary Mentioned a Few Critical Dates

In an interview with China Central Television (CCTV), Wuhan Party Secretary Ma Guoqiang mentioned a few critical dates:

  • December 27, 2019: A hospital reported that regular antibiotic treatment did not work for a few pneumonia patients.The  Wuhan Health Department then asked hospitals to report similar cases.
  • December 30/31, 2019: The Wuhan government gathered more patients from other hospitals and reported the situation to the National Health Commission.
  • January 12/13, 2020: At the airport, train station, coach station, and ship terminal, Wuhan began installing infrared thermometers to test people’s temperatures.
  • January 20, 2020: The State Council took action and the National Health Commission declared the coronavirus to be a category B infectious disease.

The Wuhan government didn’t release the critical information to the public or take serious measures until January 20, 2020.

Related posting on Chinascope:

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Leadership: Wuhan Mayor Not “Authorized” to Release Epidemic Information to the Public Before

The Wuhan government has been criticized for failing to disclose critical information, including the severity of the virus and the fact that it could be transmitted from person to person. Wuhan Major Zhou Xianwang said that, before January 20, he had not been “authorized” to do so.

In an interview with the China Central Television (CCTV) on January 27, 2020, Zhou apologized for not releasing the epidemic information to the public earlier. He stated that “as a local government, I could not release information until I received information and authorization.” “Especially after January 20, the State Council had a meeting, defining it as a category B infectious disease but deciding to handle it as a category A infectious disease. It then asked the local government to be responsible and we could be therefore be more active in our work.”

He said that they decided to lock down the city to keep the virus within the city and not spread out, even though they might be blamed in the future. Ma Guoqiang (Wuhan Party Secretary) and he were willing to take the responsibility for this decision.

He didn’t mention when they knew about the information.

Both Caixin and The Beijing News reported his statement. Continue reading

Chinese Government Issued Nationwide Guidance on New Labor and Banking Rules

Well-known Chinese news site Sina recently reported that the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security just released new regulations to relax certain labor laws for the period when the nation is combating the coronavirus. The new regulations prohibit laying off workers or stopping their pay if the workers are not able to work due to government bans. Companies should provide a minimum living payment to those who are not able to perform work. For the same cause, if one who is involved in the rescue activities of the epidemic temporarily loses income and is not able to pay off credit card debts or a mortgage, this will not be recognized as a breach of contract. Delayed payments should be allowed. The State Grid for electricity also issued announcements that allow customers to continue to use electricity even if their payment is past due. In the meantime, the Grid will provide capabilities for customers to do business remotely online without visiting local offices.

Source: Sina, January 27, 2020
https://finance.sina.com/gb/chinamkt/chinanews/2020-01-27/doc-ifzsynat0750373.shtml

Lianhe Zaobao: High Profile International Companies Suspended Chinese Operations

Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that, with the spread of the coronavirus across China, several high profile international companies have suspended their Chinese operations. Google closed all of its outlets in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. IKEA closed all its 30 stores in Mainland China. IKEA earlier only planned to close half of its stores. McDonald’s closed all its 300 branches in Hubei Province. Multiple airlines decided to reduce or close their flights to and from China. Air Canada cancelled a full month of all flights to Beijing and Shanghai; Lufthansa, Swissair, and Austrian Airlines cancelled two weeks; Air France reduced flights for a week; British Airlines cancelled all flights to all Chinese cities. American Airlines and Delta both reduced flights. Lion Air Indonesia cancelled all of its flights to China. Indian’s IndiGo Air stopped flights to Chengdu, China, and Hong Kong. China has so far closed more than ten cities. Local spending saw a significant reduction in China. This might also be a reason to suspend retail activities.

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, January 31, 2020
https://beltandroad.zaobao.com/beltandroad/news/story20200131-1025165

Patients of Coronavirus Ended Their Lives to Avoid Infecting Family Members

As the Wuhan hospitals are packed and short of medical supplies, many patients of coronavirus who weren’t able get a hospital bed had to go back home for self-quarantine. Out of the fear that they would pass the virus on to their beloved ones at home, some of them chose to end their lives.

An eyewitness saw a patient crying on a bridge in great grief and desperation. The patient left home for fear of infecting his wife and child. The hospital had no room for him, so he rented a room where he could stay. He had to walk a long distance between his rental place and hospital when seeking treatment as the public transportation has stopped. He had no energy to walk anymore and had no food. He jumped off the bridge. Police came and told the eyewitness not to mention it on the Internet.

Another person posted on WeChat that her neighbor, an older gentleman, was diagnosed as a suspect of the coronavirus, without confirmation. He hanged himself so as not to trouble others.

Another person revealed on WeChat that an older woman in his classmate’s community had a fever for a few days. The hospital couldn’t confirm her case and just asked her to go home for self-quarantine. Worrying she might infect her family, she jumped off of the building.

Source: Secret China, February 3, 2020
https://www.secretchina.com/news/gb/2020/02/03/921721.html

Virus Origin: Genome Analysis of the New Wuhan Coronavirus Found Viral Sequences Suspicious of Laboratory Engineering

Dr. Lyons-Weiler, the founder and CEO of the Institute for Pure and Applied Knowledge (IPAK), published an article stating that medical research found evidence that might suggest the novel coronavirus in China could come out from a laboratory-induced event. He listed possibilities of the origin as either a vaccine or a biomedical weapon.

Dr. Lyons-Weiler has written many articles and three books, many of them are on medical related topics.

“There is, however, clear evidence that the novel sequence, which I will refer to henceforth as INS1378, is from a laboratory-induced recombination event. Specifically,

(1) The sequence similarity to other coronavirus sequences is lower to its most similar sequences in any coronavirus than the rest of the genome (IPAK finding)

(2) The high sequence similarity of INS1378 to a SARS spike protein (2; IPAK Confirmed).

(3) We also found significant sequence similarity of INS1378 to a pShuttle-SN vector that was in use in the 1980’s in China to create a more immunogenic coronavirus (IPAK finding, details below, Option 4).”

He gave four options on the origins of virus:

Option 1. Natural coronavirus related to bat coronaviruses, Not a Recombined Virus. He concluded that this option is a “falsified hypothesis.”

Option 2. A recombined virus that naturally picked up a SARS-like spike protein in its N-terminus of the viral genome. He concluded this option as “speculative hypothesis and unlikely.”

Option 3. A recombined virus made in a laboratory for the purpose of creating a bioweapon.

“Both China and the US hinted at the other side’s potential liability in playing a role in bringing about a novel coronavirus in the lab specifically for the purpose of being used as a bioweapon. To add to the intrigue, a Chinese Scientist had her security access revoked from a BSL-4 laboratory in Manitoba, Canada for violating protocols, allegedly sending samples of deadly viruses to mainland China. On January 26, The Washington Times published an article citing an Israeli defense expert who claimed that China has likely proceeded with a bioweapons program.”

He called it a “rumor” but didn’t reject it from the angle of possibility.

Option 4. A recombined virus made in a laboratory for the purpose of creating a vaccine.

“IPAK researchers found a sequence similarity between a pShuttle-SN recombination vector sequence and INS1378. It turns out that the sequence from pShuttle is most closely related to the Spike protein from SARS coronavirus. This particular technology was used in 2008 to attempt to develop a more immunogenic vaccine against coronavirus.”

Studies reported “serious immunopathology in animals – rats, ferrets, and monkeys – in which animals vaccinated against coronaviruses tended to have extremely high rates of respiratory failure upon subsequent exposure in the study when challenged with the wild-type coronavirus.”

He thinks Option 4 is “most likely.” The Chinese government might have conducted human trials with this vaccine, or this vaccine might have escaped from a lab. “The available evidence most strongly supports that the 2019-NCoV virus is a vaccine strain of coronavirus either accidentally released from a laboratory accident, perhaps a laboratory researcher becoming infected with the virus while conducting animal experiments, or the Chinese were performing clinical studies of a Coronavirus vaccine in humans.”

Sources:
1. Principia Scientific International, January 31, 2020

On the Origins of the 2019-nCoV Virus, Wuhan, China


2. Washington Times, January 26, 2020
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jan/26/coronavirus-link-china-biowarfare-program-possible/
3. James Lyons-Weiler website

James Lyons-Weiler, PhD

Reuters Chinese: Global Commercial Aviation Industry on High Alert

Reuters Chinese Edition recently reported that the global airlines are all on high alert regarding the developing Wuhan Pneumonia situation. They are assessing the potential impact on the aviation business. According to the statistics that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) published, at the SARS peak time in April of 2003, Asian business declined by 45 percent. At that time, Cathay Pacific reduced their flights by 40 percent, and so did Singapore Airlines, JAL and ANA. The airline industry depends more on Chinese passengers now than it did in 2003. According to Moody’s, today in Australia, 15 percent of the country’s total international visitors are from China. The same number was 3 percent in 2003. Based on the data that the Civil Aviation Administration of China provided, there were 6.8 million Chinese who took international flights in 2003. The same number was 63.7 million in 2018. Since the local authorities closed down the city, multiple airlines have cancelled their flights out of Wuhan.

Source: Reuters Chinese, January 23, 2020
https://cn.reuters.com/article/global-airliners-wuhan-coronavirus-impac-idCNKBS1ZM13R

People’s Daily: Chinese Customs Announced Official Plan to Control International Virus Spread

People’s Daily reported on January 25, the first day of the Chinese New Year, that Chinese Customs published an official announcement jointly with the Chinese National Health Council that the 2019-nCoV virus (the Wuhan Pneumonia) is now officially included in the scope of the Chinese Frontier Health and Quarantine Law, which requires all people crossing the Chinese border in either direction actively to declare to customs the nature of their related health status. They will be required to fill out an official form. The announcement also called for cooperation with customs on activities like measuring their temperature. Transportation vehicle owners are responsible for providing patients proper protection tools and for reporting to customs. Travelers are also advised to wash their hands often, to wear masks and to avoid contact with patients. Travelers with symptoms are required to seek medical treatment immediately and to provide their travel history. Customs may adjust rules over time. This new regulation takes effect on January 24th and will be in effect for three months.

Source: People’s Daily, January 25, 2020
http://politics.people.com.cn/n1/2020/0125/c1001-31562440.html