The excess of people infected with the virus in China means that only a small number are accepted in hospitals. The rest return to their homes, forced to remain in a strict quarantine.
It is feared that the actual death toll has not yet been announced by the National Health Commission. At stake are the people who die waiting for treatment, as they are not included in the count of victims..
After recognizing the severity of the epidemic, the Chinese government promised the inhabitants transparency, which had not yet happened. Because of this, the Chinese press published information on the situation in Wuhan and its province, Hubei. On social networks, data is still circulating that explains the extent to which the information was hidden at the beginning of the outbreak.
One of these data is the wave of videos that denounced the precarious situation of hospitals in the focus of infection. The images of exhausted doctors, their faces deformed from long hours of work.
“In this climate, the dominant elites in China were suddenly thrown into a virtual coliseum, in which their political skills were put to the test without mercy. And they failed dramatically ”said commentator Tianjie on his blog: Chublic Opinion.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, after eight days away from public space, demanded a meeting to quickly contain the epidemic. “This effort will have an impact on public health, the economy and peace of the social country”, He said.
“It is a fundamental test of the Chinese system and its ability to govern,” said President Xi Jinping.
The media discovered, last weekend, irregularities in the distribution of donations of masks and other protective materials this weekend.
Several complaints were directed at the Chinese Red Cross, a state agency not affiliated with the International Red Cross and which has had a reputation for corruption for years. This institution centralized the receipt of donations. However, instead of distributing them to the hospitals that needed them most, he diverted them to the area’s top offices or medical centers, away from the front lines against the disease..
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The Government has been criticized for the fact that, at the center of the crisis, doctors wear raincoats instead of special clothes or make their own masks to protect themselves. Meanwhile, politicians use the N95 – a fact sold throughout China.
This sparked a wave of outrage on the Internet. “It’s very frustrating,” says Niao, an engineering student. “These lessons should have been learned 17 years ago”, finished.
The changes in the tone of the media, after the meeting of the Standing Committee, are already noticeable. In addition to the disappearance of Caijing’s report, Internet searches for keywords, such as “red cross scandal”, have been less in demand.
The magazine Caixin, one of the most well-known private media in China, and which has had the most aggressive publications, published an editorial that called for transparency on the part of the Chinese government.
“We ask for transparency throughout the process. Transparency must be reflected in all aspects of scientific research, medical treatment and distribution of people and material, with all necessary levels and departments. The disclosure of information must be true, accurate, complete and fast, without omissions or arbitrary silences on important issues that recognize only small problems and without escaping from reality ”, demanded the magazine.
However, the Government, through state means, has already tried to take charge of history. The construction in record time of two hospitals in Wuhan was essential both from a hygienic point of view and from advertising. This has shown that, when committed, China can undertake prodigious projects that no other country is capable of.
The government has admitted that there are problems with the shortage of doctors in Wuhan and that in the rest of the cities under quarantine it already covers about 50 million people, since Wenzhou joined the group of urban centers under special measures.
“What China urgently needs is medical masks, protective clothing and safety glasses”, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
After the Lunar New Year break, Chinese factories still have only 70 percent of the production capacity of 20 million masks a day. The epidemic is still far from being controlled.
Death toll continues to rise in China
The number of confirmed deaths in the outbreak rose to 490 in China, after officials in Hubei province announced 65 new deaths.
In the usual daily update, figures from the Hubei health commission, the most affected by the virus, showed an increase in confirmed infections, with 3,156 new cases.
The first death in Hong Kong from the coronavirus occurred on Tuesday. This poses yet another problem for the international financial center, following protests against the Chinese government. Macau took action and asked its casinos to close doors.
The victim in Hong Kong was a 39-year-old man who had visited Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak and who is now in isolation. This is the second death outside mainland China. A man also died in the Philippines after visiting the city.
Thousands of health workers in Hong Kong’s special administrative region have been on strike. At issue is the request for the total closure of the borders with the main territory of China after three border points remain open.
“We are not threatening the Government, we just want to prevent the epidemic”, explained a nurse who participated in the strike.
The deputy director of the State Health Administration of the National Health Commissions, Jiao Yahui, told CNN that in Hubei province, the death rate is 3.1 percent. To date, 97 percent of fatalities have been confirmed in this region.
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