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Letters | Now with coronavirus, China’s numbers – like its provincial GDP figures – just do not add up
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Why you can trust SCMP
13
If more than 60 cases of the coronavirus were detected among around 3,700 passengers on a single cruise ship docked in Yokohama, Japan, how is it then possible that only around 40,000 cases have been identified among the population of 1.4 billion in China?
The whole world already knows that numbers in China do not add up. Whether we talk about gross domestic product or growth figures per province, the figures do not add up.
Proof of the distrust in China’s official numbers is the cancellation of flights to Beijing and Shanghai – cities that are not majorly effected by the virus – by many major airlines.
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Panic and fear can only be prevented by opening up and reporting the truth. A unified fight against this potentially deadly virus can only succeed if governments open up and be transparent.
Hiding facts, closing down social media accounts and encouraging web users to highlight positive news, will only result in more panic and fear.
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Moreover, if the extent of the coronavirus infections is not universally shared, the solution to the crisis recedes further away.
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