[Genuine Realist]

One weird thing about these threads is that people talk about China as if it’s this inscrutable, mysterious land from which we have no information.  Maybe that was true 40 years ago, but now, at any given moment, there are many many thousands of Americans in China working and visiting. There are American scientists in China, there are American doctors in China.

For example, a friend recently shared a video on Youtube which is put on by The American Academy of Family Physicians. They interview Dr. Laura Jordhen, who is the chief of family medicine at a hospital in Shanghai. It’s now like a week old but it’s interesting to hear a doctor’s observations working on the front lines in China.

The part with Dr. Jordhen starts at 10:47

https://youtu.be/d1DFk21oIoc

Yes, governments can hide things, especially during a Lockdown, but there were many American doctors in China during the outbreak, they were aware of what was happening. Maybe they assumed the US government would actually act on all the information and warnings they received .

I don't see China as mysterious or inscrutable. I do see it as being governed by a ruling party that (a) minimized or deliberately misrepresented the possibility of human-to-human transmission well into January, (b) engaged in a policy of disinformation about the origins of the virus, and © failedto impose any sort of travel restriction in December when it really might have mattered.

The availability of disorganized anecdotal information from American doctors and observers doesn't signify in the same way.

---

One weird thing about these threads is that people talk about China as if it’s this inscrutable, mysterious land from which we have no information.  Maybe that was true 40 years ago, but now, at any given moment, there are many many thousands of Americans in China working and visiting. There are American scientists in China, there are American doctors in China.

For example, a friend recently shared a video on Youtube which is put on by The American Academy of Family Physicians. They interview Dr. Laura Jordhen, who is the chief of family medicine at a hospital in Shanghai. It’s now like a week old but it’s interesting to hear a doctor’s observations working on the front lines in China.



The part with Dr. Jordhen starts at 10:47

https://youtu.be/d1DFk21oIoc

Yes, governments can hide things, especially during a Lockdown, but there were many American doctors in China during the outbreak, they were aware of what was happening. Maybe they assumed the US government would actually act on all the information and warnings they received .

I don't see China as mysterious or inscrutable. I do see it as being governed by a ruling party that (a) minimized or deliberately misrepresented the possibility of human-to-human transmission well into January, (b) engaged in a policy of disinformation about the origins of the virus, and © failedto impose any sort of travel restriction in December when it really might have mattered.

The availability of disorganized anecdotal information from American doctors and observers doesn't signify in the same way.

I'm going to reply to my own post, with a cut-and-paste from another Commentary article. From the text:

As for the World Health Organization, it is a repository of data and is supposed to be the global whistleblower when a threat to international public health arises. And so it has been, for example in the 2009 case of the H1N1 outbreak. On April 15 that year, a California patient took ill with a new influenza virus. On April 17 came a second case. The day after, April 18, the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of the outbreak. On April 25, a mere 10 days after the first case emerged, the WHO declared a public health emergency of international concern.

Not this time. The first Chinese victims of 2019’s novel coronavirus began showing symptoms in the Wuhan region as early as November. It was already December 30 by the time a doctor at Wuhan Central Hospital blew the whistle in a chat-room on a new coronavirus. Only the day after word leaked out in this way did the Chinese government inform the local WHO office. Through much of January, the WHO accepted and repeated the false Chinese claim that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission. Not until January 31, when human-to-human transmission was obvious and undeniable, did the WHO declare an emergency—more than six weeks, rather than 10 days, after the outbreak.

This seems to me a devastating critique of the Chinese response, particularly given the untrammeled holiday traffic that went on in Wuhan throughout December. This is not a 'blame Canada' situation. The full link is here - https://www.commentarymagazine.com/tod-l...ronavirus/

[Genuine Realist]

One weird thing about these threads is that people talk about China as if it’s this inscrutable, mysterious land from which we have no information.  Maybe that was true 40 years ago, but now, at any given moment, there are many many thousands of Americans in China working and visiting. There are American scientists in China, there are American doctors in China.

For example, a friend recently shared a video on Youtube which is put on by The American Academy of Family Physicians. They interview Dr. Laura Jordhen, who is the chief of family medicine at a hospital in Shanghai. It’s now like a week old but it’s interesting to hear a doctor’s observations working on the front lines in China.

The part with Dr. Jordhen starts at 10:47

https://youtu.be/d1DFk21oIoc

Yes, governments can hide things, especially during a Lockdown, but there were many American doctors in China during the outbreak, they were aware of what was happening. Maybe they assumed the US government would actually act on all the information and warnings they received .

I don't see China as mysterious or inscrutable. I do see it as being governed by a ruling party that (a) minimized or deliberately misrepresented the possibility of human-to-human transmission well into January, (b) engaged in a policy of disinformation about the origins of the virus, and © failedto impose any sort of travel restriction in December when it really might have mattered.

The availability of disorganized anecdotal information from American doctors and observers doesn't signify in the same way.

---

One weird thing about these threads is that people talk about China as if it’s this inscrutable, mysterious land from which we have no information.  Maybe that was true 40 years ago, but now, at any given moment, there are many many thousands of Americans in China working and visiting. There are American scientists in China, there are American doctors in China.

For example, a friend recently shared a video on Youtube which is put on by The American Academy of Family Physicians. They interview Dr. Laura Jordhen, who is the chief of family medicine at a hospital in Shanghai. It’s now like a week old but it’s interesting to hear a doctor’s observations working on the front lines in China.



The part with Dr. Jordhen starts at 10:47

https://youtu.be/d1DFk21oIoc

Yes, governments can hide things, especially during a Lockdown, but there were many American doctors in China during the outbreak, they were aware of what was happening. Maybe they assumed the US government would actually act on all the information and warnings they received .

I don't see China as mysterious or inscrutable. I do see it as being governed by a ruling party that (a) minimized or deliberately misrepresented the possibility of human-to-human transmission well into January, (b) engaged in a policy of disinformation about the origins of the virus, and © failedto impose any sort of travel restriction in December when it really might have mattered.

The availability of disorganized anecdotal information from American doctors and observers doesn't signify in the same way.

I'm going to reply to my own post, with a cut-and-paste from another Commentary article. From the text:

As for the World Health Organization, it is a repository of data and is supposed to be the global whistleblower when a threat to international public health arises. And so it has been, for example in the 2009 case of the H1N1 outbreak. On April 15 that year, a California patient took ill with a new influenza virus. On April 17 came a second case. The day after, April 18, the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of the outbreak. On April 25, a mere 10 days after the first case emerged, the WHO declared a public health emergency of international concern.

Not this time. The first Chinese victims of 2019’s novel coronavirus began showing symptoms in the Wuhan region as early as November. It was already December 30 by the time a doctor at Wuhan Central Hospital blew the whistle in a chat-room on a new coronavirus. Only the day after word leaked out in this way did the Chinese government inform the local WHO office. Through much of January, the WHO accepted and repeated the false Chinese claim that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission. Not until January 31, when human-to-human transmission was obvious and undeniable, did the WHO declare an emergency—more than six weeks, rather than 10 days, after the outbreak.

This seems to me a devastating critique of the Chinese response, particularly given the untrammeled holiday traffic that went on in Wuhan throughout December. This is not a 'blame Canada' situation. The full link is here - https://www.commentarymagazine.com/tod-l...ronavirus/