Chinese Political Influence Over Coronavirus News | William Yang

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“When the doctors can’t even handle the living cases, how can we expect that they have someone dedicated to record every single death?”
— William Yang

SHOW DESCRIPTION

Location: Skype
Date: Sunday, 2nd February 2020
Company: DW News
Role: East Asia Correspondent

In early December 2019, the Chinese city of Wuhan became the epicentre of a deadly coronavirus outbreak. As of today (3rd Feb, 2020), the virus has now spread to at least 26 countries, infecting over 17,000 people with more than 360 deaths.

It is suspected that the outbreak originated from Hunan Seafood Market, a 'wet market' in Wuhan. These markets are known for selling a range of live wildlife from typical western meats through to live venomous snakes, cats, marmots, turtles, cicadas, guinea pigs, rats, badgers, hedgehogs and other wild animals.

The first recorded case of the virus was on 1st Dec 2019, but it wasn't until 31st Dec that the World Health Organisation (WHO) was made aware of the developing situation. By this time, 27 people were known to have been infected. On 9th Jan 2020, the first death was recorded in Wuhan, a 61-year-old man who regularly visited the Hunan Seafood Market. On 2nd Feb 2020, the first recorded death outside of China was recorded in the Philippines, a 44-year-old Chinese man from Wuhan.

There are confirmed infections in at least 26 countries; the WHO has declared a global public health emergency, and most major nations are urging people not to travel to China and have started to evacuate citizens.

To combat the virus in Wuhan, China began works on two new hospitals, with over 1,000 beds, specifically designed to treat patients who have contracted the virus. Remarkably, authorities aim to have these facilities up and running within two weeks. 

As further information is gathered on the epidemic, there are concerns about the accuracy of the number of deaths reported by the Chinese government. Chinese language media outlet Initium News has claimed that people working at local crematoriums in Wuhan have reported that many dead bodies are being transferred directly from hospitals to the crematoriums without identification of the patients. If this were true, it would mean that the reported death toll from China has been significantly underestimated.

In this interview, I talk to William Yang, East Asia Correspondent for DW News who has been reporting extensively on the coronavirus outbreak. We discussed the origins and spread of the disease and allegations that China is withholding crucial information.

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