The U.S. Intelligence Community has concluded that China concealed the extent of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in the country, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.
A classified report submitted to the White House states that China intentionally lowered its reported number of coronavirus cases, according to three officials familiar with the matter. The officials did not indicate if the report estimates what China’s actual infection rate is.
The news comes a day after Dr. Deborah Birx, response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, suggested that the U.S. response to the pandemic may not have been as effective as possible due to “missing” data from China.
“The medical community interpreted the Chinese data as, this was serious, but smaller than anyone expected,” Birx said at a press briefing. “Because, probably…we were missing a significant amount of the data, now that we see what happened to Italy and we see what happened to Spain.”
South Carolina mom couldn’t remember last time she fed 2 daughters before they were found dead: affidavit
Education Dept. Goes Viral with Takedown of ‘Fake News’ Story on Loan Cuts: No More Handouts for Failing Degrees
Even Healthcare Workers Are Dropping Health Coverage as Obamacare Premiums Hit New Heights
Trump drops Republican Senator’s phone number in social post over fury on stalled bill
Tennessee prison chief resigns after failed execution as former US attorney tapped to lead independent review
Death Row Inmate Christa Pike Kept Alive With Ventilator After Botched Execution as Hospital Staff Tries to ‘Save’ Her
Newsom slaps 25% tax on private detention centers in sweeping pushback against key Trump policy
Watch: No Word from Pro-Palestinian Gays After Islamic Preacher Encourages Men to Execute Them, Strike Women
Trump’s attempted assassin sent mysterious texts about 3D printer leading up to Butler, Pa. shooting: report
DHS exposes dilemma behind SCOTUS deportation fight: ‘We have two choices’
MAGA mom’s dire warning over tech guardrails as Trump puts pedal to the metal on race with China
‘Activist judge’ rules Congress cannot bar noncitizens from voting in federal elections
Activist network wants you scared of AI killing people — unless China’s using it
Boston-bound plane vanishes with 6 on board; Coast Guard launches search off Nantucket coast
Japan seeks US help to bring North Korean abductees home
China could have prevented 95 percent of coronavirus infections if it had acted sooner to stem the outbreak, according to one study.
“I would urge every nation: Do your best to collect the data. Do your best to share that information,” Pompeo said. “We’re doing that.”
Senator Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) has repeatedly claimed that China was underreporting cases of coronavirus. Cotton argued in a January 28 letter to Pompeo and Health Secretary Alex Azar that the Trump administration should ban travel from China, in part because China was not reporting the extent of the epidemic.
“As of [Tuesday] morning, China has reported that the Wuhan coronavirus has infected more than 4,500 people and killed more than 100,” Cotton wrote. “But the real number is likely far higher — perhaps in the hundreds of thousands — given the Chinese Communist Party’s long history of covering up and minimizing these crises.”
Story cited here.
