Crantag wrote:Judging by the response of the authorities, this premise does not even seem alarmist or conspiratorial.
I have seen that rumor about the biohazard lab in Wuhan for a few days, but I don't think it's true. There are even rumors that the CIA spread the virus. Damn, that would boost my fight against the Empire
Frankly, I don't even need that.
Here is a timeline of what happened:
This article isn't mainly about the situation leading up to what happened now, but was about the super spreader that infected 14 medical personnel. But it contains a lot of valuable information about what happened on the days leading up to now. I only translated the latter half as the former half are talking about the super spreader.
Suppressed information:
December 30th, 2019. A document with the seal of City of Wuhan's Health Commision's Medical administration surfaced on the internet. It was a emergency notice of "Continuous emergence of unknown origin pneumonia from Wuhan's Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market".
Ling Yi, a doctor from the Wuhan Union Hospital recalled that, when the epidemic just began, City of Wuhan's strategy is just "cold treatment". The hospital he's working at has been informed that, without approvement from the higher ups, it's forbidden to discuss the current situation with the public, it's also forbidden to accept media interview, and not just the clinical system, there are even tighter controls on the information from the department of infectious diseases and the CDC, "Just the whole thing cannot be talked about". At the time, the only advises doctors could've gave their patients is:"Face masks, face masks, you must buy face masks, and wear them", and maybe half jokingly told them "Don't buy stuff from the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, the food there isn't fresh."
December 31st, public notice from the government of Wuhan claims that they diagnosed 27 cases, with 7 cases in severe conditions, no H2H transmission is observed, and no medical personnel is infected. People's Daily posted "Currently the source of the infection is unknown, we can know jump into the conclusion that it's SARS just because of the rumors online" on their Weibo.
Wuhan's Public Safety Agency conducted an investigation, they summoned 8 members that were spreading or sharing unproven rumors, and dealt with them following the laws, this was announced on their official Weibo on January 1st, 2020.
From January 6th to 10th, no reports of "Origin unknown pneumonia" came from Wuhan's Health Commission.
"On 31st December when the situation about the epidemic is announced, I went to brought some face masks, there was a long line at the pharmacy, and the face masks were sold out too. The few days afterwards, the officials warned us to not "spread rumors", and said "no H2H transmission occurred", we calmed down a lot. And then after another week, there wasn't an increase in confirmed cases, so we thought that was it." A citizen from Wuhan wrote on his personal Weibo account."
January 11st, in the latest report, Wuhan's Health Commission announced that: "Starting from January 3rd 2020, no new cases are discovered. Currently, no medical personnel are infected, and there's no conclusive evidences of H2H transmission."
A few days afterwards, Thailand, Japan starts reporting confirmed cases of the new Coronavirus.
From January 12nd to 17th, Meeting of Hubei Province People's Congress was held in Wuhan. January 18th, a community in the city held the 20th "Ten thousands family meal". January 20th noon, Wuhan's office of Emergency Management threw a Chinese New Year Party. January 21th, Provincial CNY artistic performance was held in the Hongshan Auditorium. The Hubei's National Song and Dance Troupe official Weibo account wrote that, the leaders of the province and several representatives from various sectors was attending, "In Wuhan, everyone is wearing layers of face masks, they overcome the fear of the pneumonia, moving forward with their dedication, persistent, and seriousness."
Before January 20th, there's not many people wearing face masks on the streets of Wuhan. Ling Yi asked a worker from Wuhan's subway why isn't he wearing a face mask, he replied that the higher up wouldn't allow it, they are afraid that it will caused unnecessary panic."It's horrifying to think back now! If back then, the officials was clear about the situation, at least 60% of the people would have been prepared." Ling Yi told Chinese News Weekly Magazine.
"The moment where everyone realize the dreadfulness of the situation is on January 20th, when Dr. Zhong Nanshan came out (About H2H transmission). Multiple respondents said that, at that time the Wuhan Union Hospital had already turned their body checking facility into "temporary infection center", the first floor is IV treatment room. Second and third floor is patient's wards, 4th floor is medical personnel's quarantine room, as early as 19th January, some medical personnel that were suspected to be infected had been quarantined in there, at the peak there is more than 20 medical personnel being suspected to be infected.
January 20th, after Zhong Nanshan came out, the chaos continues. January 22nd, Liu Fang, a pregnant woman who was suspected to be infected with the new Coronavirus, was about to be in labour. She was never given a CAT Scan as she was afraid that it will affect the baby, and because the coronavirus test kits was severely lacking, she was never diagnosed.
"She was diagnosed on the day of labour, because it was her first labour and C-section was necessary. The doctor had no choice, so they put on Class III protection suit, and did the surgery like astronauts."Ling Yi told Chinese News Weekly Magazine.
23th January, "Wuhan's Health Commission answered questions from several concerned citizens" is published, on the days leading up to 23th, they are able to test 200 cases every day, but just the fever clinics of Wuhan Union Hospital have nearly 200 people queuing everyday, and this is just one out of the seven hospitals that is giving treatments.
At the time, the queue in Wuhan Union Hospital can takes up to maximum of 5 hours, and a minimum of 2 to 3 hours. "The patient reported their condition, and they wouldn't get the response in a few days, the higher ups keep telling us to wait, there was too many people, so a lot of doctors and patient cannot be diagnosed. Ling Yi said, at the time, there are nearly 30 medical personnel being quarantined.
With the exception of the medical personnel that is taking fever patients who are wearing Class III protections such as goggles, face mask, isolation gown, the doctors and nurses from other departments and in the wards have no additional protection other than a face mask.
"We need help!" A neurosurgeon who sorted out a list of 20 hospitals in Wuhan, and posted on his personal social media account posted that, "The supplies are low, most hospitals only have supplies to last 3 to 5 days."
(To protect the identity of the respondents, Liu Fang, Zhao Jun Shi, Ling Yi are all pseudonyms)
Chinese original
Before January 20th, there was a classical Chinese cover-up. City officials didn't want to upset anybody because of the Meeting of Hubei Province People's Congress from 12nd to 17th, and because of the "Ten thousands family meal" on the 20th.
In the end, they had to come clear on the 20th because the virus had spread to Thailand and Japan. That would have been impossible without "human-to-human" (H2H) infection.
We can't tell from what point exactly they understood that they were dealing with a potential pandemic virus, but it must have started to dawn on them about a week before the 20th. They just kept on hoping that it wouldn't be so bad. So they delayed the decision until after the Council meeting and the banquet.
If the virus had escaped the biohazard lab in Wuhan, the authorities would have understood the problem much earlier.