While seeking to show that China's leadership acted decisively early on in the new virus outbreak, publication in state media of a recent speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping also opens him up to criticism over why the public was not alerted sooner.
A security guard wearing a face mask walks through a quiet main Qianmen Street, a popular tourist spot, in Beijing, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020. China reported Sunday a drop in new virus cases for the third straight day, as it became apparent that the country's leadership was aware of the potential gravity of the situation well before the alarm was sounded.
The number of new cases in mainland China fell for a third straight day, China’s National Health Commission reported Sunday. The 2,009 new cases in the previous 24-hour period brought the total to 68,500. Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that the person who died was a male in his 60s living in central Taiwan. The man had no recent overseas travel history and no known contact with virus patients, CNA said, citing Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung.
The disclosure of his speech indicates top leaders knew about the outbreak’s potential severity weeks before such dangers were made known to the public. It was not until late January that officials said the virus can spread between humans and public alarm began to rise. The anger reached a peak earlier this month following the death of Li Wenliang, a young doctor who was reprimanded by local police for trying to spread a warning about the virus. He ended up dying of the disease himself.
Overwhelmed by the number of suspected cases, the province has not been able to test every person exhibiting symptoms. The clinical diagnosis is based on doctors’ analyses and lung imaging and is intended to allow probable cases to be treated as confirmed ones without the need to wait for a lab result.
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