Is China somehow responsible for COVID19 outbreak !

Is China responsible for this Corona Virus outbreak?

This is a topic on which we can debate for hours without any result. However it is an established fact that the virus against whom the whole world is at war right now, originated from Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province of The Republic of China.

China is known for its manipulative approach to suppress information that can threaten their economy as well as global image. In this case China reported WHO on December 31 2019, citing multiple cases of viral pneumonia from Wuhan that they believe to be caused by a kind of corona virus which they have not encountered before. However according to government data seen by the South China Morning Post, The first case of someone in China suffering from Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, can be traced back to November 17, 2019. According to the government data, a 55 year-old from Hubei province could have been the first person to have contracted Covid-19 on November 17. It is possible that there were reported cases dating back even earlier than those seen by the Post.

However from that date onwards, one to five new cases were reported each day. By December 15, the total number of infections stood at 27 – the first double-digit daily rise was reported on December 17 – and by December 20, the total number of confirmed cases had reached 60.

Moreover a report published in medical journal The Lancet by Chinese doctors from Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan, which treated some of the earliest patients, put the date of the first known infection at December 1.

What China Could have done to Prevent the pandemic outbreak ?

China has a history of mishandling outbreaks, including SARS in 2002 and 2003. Although China tried to suppress the initial information about the virus, the virus was mostly contained in Wuhan only till 1st week of February. In January 25 which starts the Lunar New Year season in China, when hundreds of millions of Chinese were expected to go on 3 billion trips. However restrictions were imposed on traveling in or to Wuhan but was not effective enough. The Government should have taken more severe measure like lockdown to contain the virus strictly in Wuhan. 

Why does it Matter?

A study by the University of Southampton examining non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) in response to the new coronavirus (COVID-19) in China shows that if Chinese authorities had acted three weeks earlier than they did, the number of coronavirus cases could have been reduced by 95% and its geographic spread limited.

Is WHO responsible for this outbreak ?

WHO provides or should provide leadership on matters critical to health and engaging partnership where joint action is needed. Intentionally or unintentionally WHO spread many wrong information regarding the COVID 19, during early stages of the outbreak which seems to be done to favor China. One such kind of information was a infamous tweet on January 14 saying the virus would not spread by person to person transmission.

tweet by WHO on January 14

By 16th January many countries all over the globe restrict travel to China due to the virus. But WHO castigated countries like USA and India for travel ban to and fro China.

Even after proving the fact that Wuhan had that new kind of virus with more than hundreds of confirmed cases, WHO state on January 11 that WHO doesn't recommend any specific health measures for travelers from Wuhan. 

Many countries demanded WHO to declare the outbreak as Pandemic from second week of February 2019. This could have ensured more strict action against the virus and people would have more careful. But WHO claims the talks and said, "the word doesn't fit the facts".

Why WHO will be favoring China?

China have boost its economy at an unimaginable rate making it only second to USA only all across the globe. WHO heavily depends on the volunteery budget contribution to meets its broad mandate. This dependency of voluntary contributions leaves WHO highly susceptible to the influence of  individual countries and organisations. China have recently increased their contribution to WHO by almost 50% to approximately $90 million . China also assures WHO to complete their many projects under their One Belt One Road initiative.

The director general of WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is also in limelight for favoring china. Reports claim that China backed the ex Ethiopian health minister to became director general director of WHO. There is also a lot of investment in his country from China under that One belt One road policies.

Dr. Tedros with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, January 28

On his recent visit to China on January 28 he met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing amid Corona virus outbreak and congratulated China for setting a new standard for outbreak control and and praised country's top leadership for openness to share information to WHO and other countries.