By Townhall. The Chinese are to blame for this Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. Their containment methods were laughable, their officials refused to inform the public, and people died. They allowed Wuhan to celebrate Chinese New Year, exposing potentially tens of thousands to the disease. Some five million left the city before they enacted a quarantine. And now we’re hearing that they knew about human transmissions. The Wall Street Journal’s piece on how this whole international fiasco began all but places the blame where it should rightfully be directed: China . . .
And now, there are reports that Chinese scientists destroyed evidence about the virus back in December (via The Times UK):
Chinese laboratories identified a mystery virus as a highly infectious new pathogen by late December last year, but they were ordered to stop tests, destroy samples and suppress the news, a Chinese media outlet has revealed.
A regional health official in Wuhan, centre of the outbreak, demanded the destruction of the lab samples that established the cause of unexplained viral pneumonia on January 1. China did not acknowledge there was human-to-human transmission until more than three weeks later.
The detailed revelations by Caixin Global, a respected independent publication, provide the clearest evidence yet of the scale of the cover-up in the crucial early weeks when the opportunity was lost to control the outbreak. Censors have been rapidly deleting the report from the Chinese internet.
(Read more from “China Lied and People Died: Chinese Scientists Destroyed Coronavirus Evidence in December” HERE)
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GOP Senator Says China ‘to Blame’ for Coronavirus Spread Because of ‘Culture Where People Eat Bats and Snakes and Dogs’
By USA Today. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, drew a backlash on social media and from Asian American advocates on Wednesday for claiming China was “to blame” for the spread of the coronavirus because of a “culture where people eat bats and snakes and dogs and things like that.”
‘These viruses are transmitted from the animal to the people and that’s why China has been the source of a lot of these viruses like SARS, like MERS, the Swine flu, and now the coronavirus, so I think they have a fundamental problem, the Texas Republican said to reporters, saying he did not object to a geographic name for the virus.
Asked about Asian Americans’ concerns about racism, Cornyn said, “I disagree. We’re not talking about Asians. We’re talking about China, where these viruses emanate from and created this pandemic.” . . .
The CDC says the coronavirus has its origins in bats and might have jumped to humans through a “wet market,” or a live animal market in Wuhan, China.
Swine flu was first detected in the United States in 2009, and MERS was first identified in Jordan in 2012, according to the CDC. The CDC says the first cases of SARS were reported in China’s Guangdong province in 2002. (Read more from “GOP Senator Says China ‘to Blame’ for Coronavirus Spread Because of ‘Culture Where People Eat Bats and Snakes and Dogs'” HERE)
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Woman Who Flew From U.S. to China for Coronavirus Test Faces Criminal Charges
By Los Angeles Times. A woman who flew last week from Massachusetts to Los Angeles — then to Beijing, where she tested positive for coronavirus — is under investigation on allegations of concealing her symptoms and putting fellow travelers at risk of infection.
The woman took fever-reducing medication before boarding a plane and lied to flight attendants, according to Beijing’s disease control center and an Air China representative, who held a news conference on Monday.
The woman, who was hospitalized and is receiving treatment, is under investigation for the crime of “impeding prevention of infectious diseases.” According to Chinese law, she could face up to three years of imprisonment or detention with possible forced labor, or up to seven years of prison if there are “serious consequences.”
As the pandemic worsens around the world but slows in China, authorities in Beijing are tightening controls. All passengers arriving in Beijing from abroad, including Chinese nationals, are required to quarantine in government centers for 14 days. (Read more from “Woman Who Flew From U.S. to China for Coronavirus Test Faces Criminal Charges” HERE)
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Trump Doubles Down on ‘China Virus,’ Demands to Know Who in White House Used Phrase ‘Kung Flu’
By Fox News. President Trump on Wednesday continued to call COVID-19, the “China virus,” and said he doesn’t think labeling the novel coronavirus is racist or puts Asian-Americans at risk.
“No, not at all,” Trump said during the noon press conference. “I think they probably would agree with it, 100 percent. It comes from China.”
Trump has been under pressure from China as well as some Democrats to stop using the term “China virus” or “Wuhan virus.” They believe the term stigmatizes China and borders on being racist. But instead if stopping, Trump has upped his use. . .
In the bizarre exchange, Trump asked Alcindor to repeat the phrase “Kung-Flu” and asked her directly which White House official had used the term. She said she did not get a name.
Earlier in the day, White House advisor Kellyanne Conway took a more combative tone with reporters and though she said using the phrase “Kung-Flu” was wrong, she refused to engage in a “hypothetical” and demanded to know who in the White House had the exchange with Jiang. (Read more from “Trump Doubles Down on ‘China Virus,’ Demands to Know Who in White House Used Phrase ‘Kung Flu'” HERE)
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