I am currently in Taiwan, receiving the most updated news and alerts about the Corona Virus. The accurate death and infection rate in China for the Virus is much worse than what is reported in international news — in nearby countries such as Taiwan, videos uploaded by people in China are being forwarded between friends and families.
Countries outside of China are transparently reporting the numbers of infected cases, but China isn’t.
A Chinese independent journalist Chen Chiu Shih travels to Wuhan (the epicenter of the Virus) posts his findings of daily life and condition in the Wuhan city of 11 million, including hospital scenes and the strenuous process for infected patients to get basic adequate care. Reporting such news in China, where information cannot be leaked without the government’s approval, is deemed courageous. The video below shows Chen’s visit to the hospitals and patients lying across benches and on the floor. There are not sufficient space in the hospitals.
Chen has been uploading videos on youtube about conditions in Wuhan until Feb. 5, 2020.
*update Feb. 8, 2020 — Chen has been taken away from the authority, who claims to quarantine him. Chen’s health had seemed well in the last few videos, before he was taken away. The Chinese Communist Party, have detailed him for spreading the truthful but awful virus condition to the world outside of China — Chen’s cell phone has been taken, and is not able to have contact with his family or the outside world.
There aren’t a lot of videos of what is happening in Wuhan, since YouTube is blocked in China. Most of these videos are sent by WeChat (China’s most used chatting app, censored by the Chinese government), and many uploaders know that their WeChat accounts would be erased by the authority and lose all their contacts, once they put China in a negative light. The few videos that are shot and being uploaded outside of China, are of hospital scenes, dead bodies being transported out of the hospital and funeral homes in Wuhan.
Some videos are long, and most readers don’t understand Chinese and the culture, but the essential translations are here –
There aren’t enough medical staff to save lives in the hospital, and not enough ambulances to take people who are dying at home to the hospital.
Many infected are dying in their homes, without a chance to visit a doctor. Patients with similar symptoms of the virus are told to stay home to quarantine themselves. Those who die at home are not reported; these numbers do not contribute to the official death number, meaning the reality of the virus is much worse than media reports.
Chen spoke to ordinary citizens with symptoms who suspect that themselves have been infected — they visited 4 or 5 hospitals, and were not able to get confirmation that they have contracted the Virus. They are told to go home to quarantine themselves. Local Chinese citizens are anxious and scared.
The numbers of infected cases in media reports are confirmed cases reported by the hospital, meaning they have seen a doctor and been tested by the test kit. There are only a few hundred test kits in the hospitals, saved only for severely sick patients with heavy symptoms. Those who have symptoms of the Corona Virus, most probably infected, are turned away from the hospital — this is a huge number of people, not counted as infected cases in the statistics.
A man named Fang Bing uploaded a videos of dead bodies in plastic covers piled up in the hospital.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-aIvr8EvgQ
Later, Fang Bing was raided at his home by a group of people dressed up as medical workers who said they must detain and “quarantine” him, saying Fang Bing has been to a dangerous place and may spread the virus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLLCvAKJpFc
Fang Bing shot the scene of being raided in his home and uploaded this video immediately. Later he disclosed that he was taken to the authority, who told him uploading such videos would create public fear.
Chen mentioned in another Youtube video his family are receiving pressure from the government, after the video above (the first link) has gotten out. My personal opinion is that since he said he has been pressured by the authority, his comments are much milder, less critical, and we aren’t presented with the seriousness of the situation as in earlier videos — those who know how the Chinese Communist Party operates understand that Chen most likely received some kind of personal threat from the authority.
The New York Times’s Southeast Asia bureau chief, Hannah Beech, reports that some governments there have either played down the threat of the epidemic or openly expressed worry about offending China, a superpower whose economic power can propel their economies.
In China, those who dare to tell the truth are being threatened and punished. On Reddit, comments of those who have spoken with relatives of those infected in China describes many local Chinese are fearful of portraying the truthful condition of Wuhan, reluctant to voice out over the phone. Ordinary citizens are threatened by the CCP to keep quiet, in order not to jeopardize their lives and safety.
As the Corona virus situation worsens, China needs to adapt a more transparent approach and genuine data contribution, for its’ responsibility on having contaminated the rest of the world.
