Politics may have stalled information in Wuhan coronavirus crisis, scientist says
- Officials always have to factor in stability and economics, but science must be given enough weight, epidemiologist says
- Epidemic expert backs decision to lock down city
Responding to criticism that authorities in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak in central China, were slow to inform the public about the illness, Zeng Guang, from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said government officials always had to factor in political stability.
“They need to consider economic factors, and issues like family reunions over the Lunar New Year. So what we [scientists] said was only part of their considerations,” tabloid Global Times quoted Zeng as saying on Wednesday.
Zeng stressed that he was not criticising the municipal government, but said lessons should be learned and science should carry more weight in such decisions.
“If a scientific perspective is not given sufficient weight, other considerations will be meaningless,” he said.