Source:
https://scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3047782/china-virus-why-wuhan-government-blame-worsening-health-crisis Letters
China virus: why Wuhan government is to blame for worsening health crisis
- By trying to play down the crisis and silence those who tried to release information about the seriousness of the disease, the Wuhan government only contributed to its spread
Paramilitary officers check the temperature of car passengers at a toll gate in Wuhan, in central China’s Hubei province on January 23. Photo: EPA-EFE
As a native of Wuhan living in Hong Kong, I am infuriated by how the Wuhan government mishandled the coronavirus crisis (“5 million left Wuhan before lockdown, 1,000 new virus cases expected”, January 26). Not only did the government fail to curb the illegal wildlife trade in the wet market where the first patients were believed to have been infected, it also deliberately withheld key information about the spread of the novel coronavirus and even tried to silence those who told the truth.
Scientists now believe that the virus is likely to have originated from touching or eating infected animals, such as bats or snakes, similar to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) virus that spread through bats and civet cats. While the trade in wild animals has become more heavily regulated in the mainland since the Sars epidemic in 2003, the Wuhan government allowed the sale of about 50 types of wild animals in the wet market, before it was shut down.
The Wuhan government lied to the public about the spread of the virus. Since the outbreak in December, officials had insisted that the disease was under control and denied the possibility of human-to-human transmission, although 15 medical staff had been infected by a patient.
The Wuhan police even arrested eight people for spreading “rumours” about the virus when it was the Wuhan government officials who had misled the public (“Doctors, journalists blame Wuhan leaders for virus spread as death toll rises”, January 26).
Because of the misinformation from its government, Wuhan missed the golden opportunity to check the spread of the virus and was forced to shut down all transport links on January 23. But, by then, people carrying the virus had already spread all over China, including Hong Kong and Macau.
Even after the lockdown, Wuhan government officials were still not completely honest about the epidemic. Despite their claims that medical supplies were sufficient, a number of hospitals in Wuhan had called for urgent delivery of more supplies through the internet. Despite the local government’s promise to take care of the people locked down in Wuhan, there are long waiting lines at most major hospitals in the city, making it impossible to effectively identify and quarantine infected patients.
The State Council of the central government has started collecting information and views online from the public to investigate possible under-reporting of cases of infection.
It is hoped that Wuhan government officials will be held accountable for their ineffective governance and the crisis will be resolved soon, with the central government and the public providing more resources.
Simon Wang, Kowloon Tong