Science vs politics: did the US overreact to the coronavirus outbreak in China?

The H1N1 influenza strain in a 2009 pandemic was first detected in the US and killed an estimated half a million people but no countries turned away or quarantined Americans

Beijing says Washington’s travel restrictions for China are inappropriate but public health experts say the coronavirus is special cause for concern

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The H1N1 flu strain first detected in the US in 2009 is thought to have killed more than half a million people around the world, but no countries turned away or quarantined Americans. Photo: Imaginechina

Published: 12:30am, 18 Feb 2020Updated: 3:01am, 18 Feb 2020

The outbreak of a new coronavirus in China has added a new and intensifying source of tension to an already fractured relationship with the United States.

With threats to public health, transport, and the global economy looming, it was no surprise that the two countries would clash as the epidemic that apparently started at a seafood and live animal market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan spread to the US, among other countries.

But the mysteries of a coronavirus that jumps species to find a home in humans – also known as a zoonotic disease – has opened a new, acrimonious tear into bilateral ties that were already being ripped apart. It has pitted science against politics.

Amid confusion among health authorities and ordinary citizens about how seriously to take the new coronavirus, Beijing has pushed back against the decision by the US government to deny entry to foreigners who have recently travelled to China, and by US carriers to suspend their flights to and from the country.

Meanwhile, Americans returning from Hubei province – the epidemic’s epicentre – are being sent to quarantine centres for two weeks.

Earlier this month, China’s foreign ministry accused Washington of having “inappropriately overreacted” to the outbreak with its strict travel restrictions for China. Foreign Minister Wang Yi underlined the message this weekend, suggesting that the measures had put into jeopardy a phase one trade agreement that took nearly two years to hammer out.

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