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China’s Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO) experts held a press conference in Beijing on February 24. At the conference, Bruce Aylward, Assistant Director General of WHO, led a group of experts to visit China to check on the coronavirus situation there. He said that he had been to Wuhan but did not go to the “dirty areas” in the Wuhan hospitals. He then rushed to catch the plane to fly out of China without quarantining himself for 14 days (after returning from Wuhan).

News reporters suspected that “dirty” was a technical term referring to infectious areas.

Source: Australia 51, February 25, 2020
https://en.australia51.com/article/6151DD84-C03D-5B1B-6BEC-0B4E42A5EBF3/

Epoch Times, an independent Chinese language media based in the U.S., provided details from the internal reports that it obtained from the Shandong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These reports, which were provided to the Shandong Provincial Health Commission, showed much higher coronavirus infection counts than the official number that China published.

On February 19, CDC’s and hospitals in Shandong reported 49 new infection cases based on positive results shown in nucleic acid tests. On that day, Shandong announced only 2 new cases. On February 20, 274 cases tested positive (one of which was a case that had been confirmed already), while the officially published number was 202.

Epoch Times created a table to compare the internally reported count vs. the officially announced count from February 8 to February 22. The first column is the date, second column is the officially announced new infection count, the third one is the internally reported cases, and the fourth one is the percent of internal count over the published count.

Image of the Epoch Times’ table:

The nucleic acid test will only show positive for 30-50 percent of the coronavirus infections. Therefore, the actual infection count may be proportionately higher than the report that is officially published.

Related postings on Chinascope:

• Infection Count: Caixin Showed Wuhan Civil Affairs Bureau Was Lying
• Infection Count: Changjiang Daily Reported a Coronavirus Case on a Day That the Government Reported Zero
• Infection Count: On February 13, Caixin Questioned Wuhan Infection Number
• Infection Count: Official Numbers Do Not Include Asymptomatic Infections
• Infection Count: Wuhan Epidemic Control Command Center Ordered 100,000 Patient Beds

Continue reading →

Changjiang Daily, a newspaper under the Wuhan Communist Party Committee, published an article in memory of a female doctor Xia Sisi who died from the coronavirus infection at the age of 29.

The article mentioned that on January 14, a patient that Xia was in charge of was confirmed to have the Coronavirus infection. Xia developed symptoms on January 19 and was hospitalized.

However, Hubei reported zero infection cases on January 14.

After people discussed on the Internet that Changjiang Daily might have accidentally leaked the truth out, the newspaper revised the article.

Revised sentence: 1月14日，夏思思接触并负责了一位病人，没想到，就在这个接触过程中，她被感染了。(On January 14, Xi Sisi was in contact with and in charge of a patient; but unexpectedly, she was infected during the contact.)

Original sentence: 1月14日，夏思思接触并负责的一位病人于当天下午确诊为新冠肺炎。(On January 14, in the afternoon, a patient that Xi Sisi was in contact with and in charge of was confirmed to have the novel Coronavirus infection.) Continue reading →

Caixin reported that researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the South China Agricultural University, and the Chinese Institute of Brain Science found that the Wuhan Seafood Market is not where the the novel coronavirus originally started. The virus was transmitted to the seafood market and then the crowded market helped spread the virus.

The research also found that the first spread was on December 8, 2019, which indicated that the virus started transmission among people in early December or even late November.

The Paper also reported this research result.

Related postings on Chinascope:

• Virus Origin: Patient “No. Zero” Had Symptoms on Dec 1
• Virus Origin: Who Was Patient “No. Zero”?
• Virus Origin: Genome Analysis of the New Wuhan Coronavirus Found Viral Sequences Suspicious of Laboratory Engineering

Continue reading →

The China Health Qigong Association, under the joint supervision of the General Administration of the Sports and Civil Affairs Ministry, advised people to do qigong exercise, as people must stay at home due to China’s fight against the novel coronavirus.

Qigong is an ancient system of coordinated body-posture, movement, breathing, and meditation used for the purposes of health, martial-arts, and spiritual exercise.

The most famous qigong exercise in China was Falun Gong which the Chinese Communist Party banned and has persecuted since 1999. Continue reading →

Caixin is a Beijing-based media group providing financial and business news and information. Hu Shuli (胡舒立), who is known for her outspoken style, founded it in 2010.

Caixin reported that 11 elderly people from the Wuhan Social Welfare Institute (武汉社会福利院) had died from the coronavirus.

On February 21, the Wuhan Network Information Office released a notice from the Wuhan Civil Affairs Bureau saying that Caixin’s report was a rumor. Only one elderly person had died there.

On February 24, Caixin countered that the social welfare institute only counted people who died between February 11 and February 19. According to its news reporters’ findings, from late December 2019 to February 19, 2020, several elderly people there had developed coronavirus symptoms and then died.

Caixin further published a death list from the institute which stated that 15 people died from December 23, 2019 to February 11, 2020 and another 4 died from February 11 to 18.

Related postings on Chinascope:

• Infection Count: Changjiang Daily Reported a Coronavirus Case on a Day That the Government Reported Zero
• Infection Count: Over 230 Staffs at Wuhan Central Hospital Have Been Infected
• Infection Count: On February 13, Caixin Questioned Wuhan Infection Number
• Infection Count: Official Numbers Do Not Include Asymptomatic Infections
• Infection Count: Wuhan Epidemic Control Command Center Ordered 100,000 Patient Beds

Continue reading →

Liu Jinxing, a Taiwan Legislator (Member of the Legislative Yuan in Taiwan), posted a letter from a Taiwan businessman on Facebook.

The letter said:

“I am a Taiwan citizen stuck in mainland China. I am sending this posting for no other reason than to ask President Tsai Ing-wen to increase the Wuhan Pneumonia control level in Taiwan and to deny entrance to Taiwan for any people from the mainland .

Beijing is having a severe (epidemic) situation, but Taiwan still has five airports open to China. Though where I stay still is some distance from Beijing, three corpses have been removed from around my community…

The main reason that I don’t leave China is that I am concerned about bringing the virus back to Taiwan or even transmitting it to my family. President Tsai, please temporarily close the door. If it is my destiny to die out of my hometown, I will take it. President Tsai, please take care of my family in Taiwan. If the worst thing happens to me, I will not, and I have no reason, to blame the government (of Taiwan).

Not every Taiwanese in mainland China is so afraid of death. Even if there are 1 million Taiwanese in mainland China, there are 20 million on the island of Taiwan. Each Taiwanese businessman understands clearly which is more important. Don’t worry about us.

If everyone in Taiwan is kept safe, that is the biggest comfort to me because I am away from home.”

Liu also posted an explanation from a friend at the Interior Ministry saying that the number of people from mainland China who have travelled to Taiwan has decreased significantly. Completely cutting any entry from China might lead people to try to enter via a third country which would make it even harder to track or monitor them.

Related postings on Chinascope:

• Taiwan: Controversy about the First Evacuation Flight – February 3
• Taiwan: Commentary – Why Beijing Does Not Allow Taiwan to Evacuate Its Citizens
• Taiwan: Beijing Rejected Taiwan’s Evacuation Request – January 28

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The Wuhan Epidemic Control Command Center issued its No. 17 Order on February 24, stating, “People from other places stuck in Wuhan can leave the city.” The city was temporarily opened.

Three hours later, the Command Center issued its No. 18 Order to declare the previous order invalid. It stated that the No. 17 order “was issued by the Transportation Control Team of the municipal Command Center, without the Command Center’s review and main leadership approval.” Thus, the city’s lockdown was reinstated.

The previous order was said to have been signed by a Deputy Mayor of Wuhan.

The Paper criticized the Wuhan government for issuing an order and nullifying it shortly thereafter. It asked for an investigation of the incident.

[Editor’s Note: Ding Xiangyang, the Deputy Chief Secretary of the State Council, stated on February 20 that Xi Jinping gave the direction to lock down Wuhan (see post Leadership: Ding Xiangyang: It Was Xi Jinping Who Ordered the Wuhan Lockdown). It is not very clear who made the decision to unlock it and who rejected it. Rationally speaking, it would need someone at a position much higher than a Deputy Mayor to decide to end the Wuhan lockdown. Then someone in a high position rejected that decision after it was announced.]

Related postings on Chinascope:

• Leadership: China Postponed “Lianghui” (“The Two Conferences”)
• Leadership: Chinese Leaders Are Planning Hide-out Place While Fighting the Coronavirus
• Leadership: “Turning Point Has Not Come Yet”
• Leadership: Ding Xiangyang: Xi Jinping Ordered Wuhan Lockdown
• Leadership: Some Chinese Media Showed Voices of Discord

Continue reading →