[oldalum]

What more did we need them to tell us?

How about the truth? Such as, it was being transmitted person-to-person (when they were telling us this was not happening). That it was fatal in many cases. That it was spreading exponentially. And they could have allowed a few of our people to come over to monitor and learn, instead of denying permission so they could continue covering it up as long as possible. And allowed their scientists to send us and others a sample of the virus so everyone could start working on a test for it. Yes, of course, once a significant lockdown was enacted, it was obvious that this was a major problem. But everyone outside of China could have benefited from a substantial head start before then. I think they have great initial culpability, irrespective of our subsequent missteps and lack of preparedness. What would have been the real (non-political) downside to being truthful and forthcoming from the start? Compare their initial communications to the world to what (I hope) would we would have done if the virus and initial infections had originated here.

[oldalum]

What more did we need them to tell us?

How about the truth? Such as, it was being transmitted person-to-person (when they were telling us this was not happening). That it was fatal in many cases. That it was spreading exponentially. And they could have allowed a few of our people to come over to monitor and learn, instead of denying permission so they could continue covering it up as long as possible. And allowed their scientists to send us and others a sample of the virus so everyone could start working on a test for it. Yes, of course, once a significant lockdown was enacted, it was obvious that this was a major problem. But everyone outside of China could have benefited from a substantial head start before then. I think they have great initial culpability, irrespective of our subsequent missteps and lack of preparedness. What would have been the real (non-political) downside to being truthful and forthcoming from the start? Compare their initial communications to the world to what (I hope) would we would have done if the virus and initial infections had originated here.