EXACTLY HOW IS CHINA RESPONSIBLE FOR THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC?

The CoViD-19 epidemic that has claimed around 34,000 lives, across the globe in a matter of few months, is a result of utter negligence and mismanagement which “would have been very deliberate”. This article explains why.

WHY THE BLAME IS ON CHINA?

            This most populous country had to become an economic superpower in order to achieve its higher goal i.e. to be a “World Superpower”, one day. Its determination made China what it is today – the second largest economy in the world that successfully lifted millions from poverty into the aspirational middle class. But at what cost? The Chinese Govt. was focused only on the goal and didn’t care much about the path. I say this with firm belief, because it had not banned wildlife trade even after numerous studies linked the repeated emergence of dangerous diseases to the population’s very close proximity to wildlife.  

NOT LEARNING FROM THE PAST!

Effect of SARS on the world

         In 2002, China saw an outbreak of SARS, which spread across the world, killed nearly 800 people and was also caused by coronavirus. This virus originated from a food market in Foshan, China. Like many others, this virus came from an animal. Again, on December 31, 2019, CoViD-19 infected 27 people in China, and was also said to originate from an animal food market, this time in Wuhan. Out of the 41 patients that were at the core of this disease, 27 had been to the Huanan market. Hence, it is very much reasonable to say that the Chinese government has time and again ignored the reason behind these viral diseases. But why exactly did it ignore an imminent threat?                                                       

According to a report released by the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the wildlife trade industry in China employs more than 14 million people and is valued at 520 billion yuan (US$74 billion). This was seen as a golden opportunity by the Chinese authorities, who wanted to exploit any possible way, for the sole reason of achieving economic prosperity. This is what that blinded the authorities and made them lift the ban on wildlife trade as soon as the threat of SARS started diminishing.

DID IT DOWNPLAY THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK EARLY ON?

WHO's tweet denying human to human transmission

In late December, when China first announced the outbreak of a mysterious pneumonia, officials in the country were quite clear on a few things. Most of the patients had been exposed to a food market in Wuhan, the city that’s still the epicenter of the outbreak, according to local health authorities. The earliest case had symptoms just two weeks earlier, on December 12. There was also “no clear evidence” of human-to-human transmission, meaning the virus wasn’t yet spreading from one person to another. That suggested people might have been getting sick directly from animals in the market. Together, the details — while concerning — were somewhat reassuring for global health experts: They suggested that this outbreak of a deadly new coronavirus began very recently and might not spread very far, and that the general population was not at risk of serious illness.

The authors of a new study, published on January, 24 in The Lancet — Chinese researchers, and doctors working in Wuhan — paint a very different portrait of the first days of the outbreak. They suggest the virus, and its spread among humans, took off weeks earlier than Chinese officials said. The researchers reviewed the clinical charts, nursing records, lab findings, and chest X-rays of the first 41 patients who had confirmed 2019-nCoV infections. Among other things, they reported that the first case of 2019-nCoV wasn’t even linked to the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market at the center of the outbreak.

A NEW VIEW ON THE EARLY CORONA VIRUS CASES

There are a few key differences between China’s early reports of this outbreak and the findings in the new Lancet study focused on the first 41 patients. These are the most concerning:
1. More than a third of the earliest cases had no connection with the animal market.
2. The outbreak’s first, or “index,” case also had no connection to the market.
3. There was direct evidence of human-to-human spread as early as January 2.
4. More than half of the early cases were people under the age of 64 — and half of people in the ICU were between 25 and 49.

WHAT’S REALLY HAPPENING?

There are a few potential explanations for the discrepancies between the early reports out of China and the information in these new Lancet studies, that are as follows:

1. The authorities in Wuhan who were first reporting on the outbreak didn’t have enough information to paint an accurate picture of the virus before releasing it to the world.
2. China deliberately downplayed the effect of nCoV19 (Novel Corona Virus 2019) in order to save its already slowing down economy.
3. China’s rigid bureaucracy caused delays in getting out information about what was happening on the ground.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The fact that the latest reports on the origin of the virus are different from the official early Chinese account does raise enormous concerns around the truthfulness of information coming out of China. If China did intentionally withhold information, that would not only be bad for public health but also illegal under international law and it will face the consequences sooner or later, since it would be a violation of the International Health Regulations, a legally binding treaty that covers how 195 countries respond to outbreaks like this one.

And, if you remember the story of AIDS, there were many initial hypotheses of its origin and cause at the beginning, which were eventually proved wrong. Now, it is the same case with CoViD-19. As of now, it’s like a huge jigsaw puzzle to put all the information together and understand where and how exactly it came into existence, “but the important goal now is to stop it from continuing to spread.” So, please...

STAY HOME! STAY SAFE‼

JAI HIND!

Also read: “WHO” ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC?

P.S.: If you enjoyed the article, please do SUBSCRIBE to get e-mail notifications, each time I post a new article. Also, don't forget to share...