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In a report called an “internal, secret document,” local health authorities in China’s Hubei province, where the virus was first discovered, listed a total of 5,918 newly discovered cases on February 10. This is more than double the official public number of confirmed cases, CNN reports, News.bg reported.
The media said that at the time, this higher figure was never fully disclosed, as China’s accounting system, in the turmoil of the first weeks of the pandemic, downplayed the severity of the outbreak. CNN contacted the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the National Health Commission, as well as the Hubei Health Commission, for comment on the revelations, but CNN received no response.
Together, the 117-page documents represent the most significant exit from inside China since the beginning of the pandemic and provide the first clear insight into what the Chinese authorities knew then but did not declare. The Chinese government categorically rejects accusations by the United States and other Western governments that it is deliberately withholding information related to the virus. The documents, which cover an incomplete period between October 2019 and April this year, reveal what appears to be a rigid healthcare system, constrained by a top-down bureaucracy and rigid procedures that are not well prepared to deal with the emerging crisis.
At several critical moments in the initial phase of the pandemic, the documents show evidence of obvious errors and point to a pattern of institutional failure. One of the most striking data relates to the slowness with which local patients are diagnosed with COVID-19. Even when the Hubei authorities presented to the public how to deal with the original outbreak as effective and transparent, the documents show that local health officials rely on insufficient evidence and reporting mechanisms.
Health experts told CNN that the documents revealed why what China knew in the first few months was important. December 1 marks a year since the first known patient with symptoms of the disease was registered in the capital of Hubei province, Wuhan. At the same time that the virus is believed to have first appeared, documents show another health crisis is unfolding. Hubei is affected by a major influenza outbreak. The documents show that cases have risen up to 20 times the previous year’s level, putting the healthcare system under additional stress.
The “flu epidemic,” according to officials in the document, was not only present in Wuhan in December, but was the largest in neighboring cities. It is unclear what effect or relationship the flu spike had to the COVID-19 outbreak. Although the documents do not suggest that the two parallel crises are related, no information on the magnitude of the Hubei flu has yet been released.
Authorities initially blamed the local Wuhan animal market for the source of the pandemic outbreak, CNN reported. The system for evaluating the local population also shows weaknesses and inaccuracies, it is clear from the documents. The lack of training of local medical personnel is also reflected. The report describes Hubei as underfunded, lacking adequate testing equipment, and unmotivated staff, who often feel ignored by China’s vast bureaucracy.
China
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