China has covered up the extent of the country's coronavirus outbreak, US intelligence officials conclude in a classified report for the Trump administration.

Bloomberg News cited three US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, who said China's public reporting of both infections and deaths was intentionally incomplete.

Two of the officials told the news agency that China's figures are fake. But no further details of the report's findings have so far been made public.

China quickly rejected the intelligence report's conclusions. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the country had been "open and transparent" about the extent of the outbreak before accusing Washington of trying to "shift the blame."

Mounting skepticism

Even so, the revelations follow suspicion for several weeks that China has underreported the scale of its coronavirus outbreak.

Read more: Beijing comes cautiously back to life as COVID-19 hits hardest beyond China

Watch video 01:59 Share China to lift Hubei travel curb Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3Zxj1 China to lift travel restrictions on Hubei province

China has reported 82,000 cases and 3,300 deaths of COVID-19. The country's death toll is lower than the United States, Spain and Italy.

The US has quickly surpassed China, recording the world's largest publicly recorded outbreak, with 213,372 infections and 4,475 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

On Wednesday, US president Donald Trump denied having read an intelligence report about the outbreak in China, but told a White House new briefing on the pandemic that China's numbers "seem a little on the light side and I’m being nice when I say that."

Scientists have doubts

Health experts also joined the chorus of skepticism over the scale of the outbreak in the Asian powerhouse. The chairman of the France-based World Medical Association said Chinas figures aren't credible.

Dr. Frank Ulrich Montgomery said the recent low Chinese numbers were "nonsense" and suggested Beijing was intentionally providing false figures.

Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19 Pneumonia-like virus hits Wuhan On December 31, 2019, China notifies the World Health Organization of a string of respiratory infections in the city of Wuhan, home to some 11 million people. The root virus is unknown and disease experts around the world begin working to identify it. The strain is traced to a seafood market in the city, which is quickly shut down. Some 40 people are initially reported to be infected.

Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19 First death in China On January 11, China announces the first death from the coronavirus — a 61-year-old man, who had shopped at the Wuhan market, dies from complications with pneumonia. Like SARS and the common cold, scientists identified that the new virus is in the coronavirus family. It is temporarily named 2019-nCoV. Symptoms include fever, coughing, difficulty breathing, and pneumonia.

Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19 Virus reaches neighboring countries In the following days, countries such as Thailand and Japan begin to report cases of infections in people who had visited the same Wuhan market. In China, a second fatality is confirmed in the city. By January 20, three people have died in China and more than 200 are infected.

Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19 Millions under lockdown China places Wuhan on quarantine on January 23 in an attempt to limit the spread of the virus. Transportation is suspended and workers attempt to quickly build a new hospital to treat infected patients, which total over 830 by January 24, as the death toll climbs to 26. Officials eventually extend the lockdown to 13 other cities, affecting at least 36 million people.

Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19 A global health emergency? More and more cases are confirmed outside of China, including in South Korea, the US, Nepal, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan. As the number of infections rises, the World Health Organization on January 23 determines that it's "too early" to declare a global public health emergency.

Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19 Coronavirus reaches Europe On January 24, French authorities confirm three cases of the new coronavirus within its borders, marking the disease's first appearance in Europe. Hours later, Australia confirms four people have been infected with the respiratory virus.

Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19 First cases confirmed in Germany On January 27, Germany announces its first known case of the virus — a 33-year-old in Bavaria who contracted it during a workplace training with a visiting Chinese colleague. He is put under quarantine and observation at a Munich hospital. The following day, three of his colleagues are confirmed infected. The death toll in China reaches 132, with around 6,000 infected worldwide.

Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19 WHO declares global health emergency On January 30, the UN's World Health Organization (WHO) declares coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern in a bid to protect countries with "weaker health systems." However, WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus does not recommend trade and travel restrictions, saying these would be "an unnecessary disruption."

Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19 First death outside China The first death linked to the novel coronavirus outside of China is reported in the Philippines on February 2. A 44-year-old Chinese man had traveled from Wuhan to Manila before falling ill and being taken to hospital, where he later died of pneumonia.

Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19 Bad ending to a cruise Also on February 3, the cruise ship Diamond Princess is quarantined off Yokohama in Japan after cases of the new coronavirus were found on board. As of February 17, the number of people infected has grown to more than 450, the largest cluster of cases outside of China. Several of the 3,700 passengers and crew onboard the ship are being or have been flown back to their home countries.

Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19 Italy under quarantine Cases in Italy rise dramatically, with 77 deaths and thousands of confirmed cases by March 3. Many countries instigate travel restrictions to northern Italy and tourist numbers plummet. On March 8, the Italian government put the entire Lombardy region into quarantine, affecting 16 million people. March 10 sees 168 fatalities in Italy, the highest in a single day.

Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19 Economic woes European and US stock markets slump on March 6, leading to the worst week since the 2008 financial crisis. The effect on global business has been significant, with many companies reporting losses and the tourism industry and airlines badly hit. The EU pledge €7.5 billion ($8.4 billion) on March 10 in an investment fund to try to stop the Eurozone falling into a recession.

Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19 WHO declares outbreak as pandemic As worldwide cases top 127,000 and deaths pass 4,700, the World Health Organization designates the global outbreak as a "pandemic" on March 11. US President Donald Trump announces a travel restriction on people coming from the Schengen Zone in Europe, annoying the EU. German Chancellor Angela Merkel announces that in Germany, 70% of the population could get the virus.

Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19 Public life on hold in Europe On March 14, Spain joins Italy in imposing a near-total nationwide lockdown to prevent the virus spreading. The population of 46 million is told not to leave their homes unless for essential tasks. In France, cafés, restaurants and non-essential shops are closed as of March 15. Many public events in Germany are cancelled and schools close.

Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19 International travel severely restricted As of March 15, many countries impose strict travel bans or restrictions in an attempt to stop the spread of Covid-19. For example, New Zealand and Australia require all international passengers to self-isolate for 14 days after arrival in the country. The US extends a European travel ban to include the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19 Germany imposes partial lockdown In a landmark televised address German Chancellor Angela Merkel announces far-reaching restrictions on everyday life on March 22, banning meetings between more than two people not from the same household outside of the workplace. The country has a surprisingly low death rate, a phenomenon attributed to a high level of testing, and a high number of intensive care beds.

Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19 Virus strikes at top as UK locks down On March 23rd Britain becomes the latest country to impose restrictions on personal freedoms, with people only allowed to leave their homes in a limited number of circumstances. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is diagnosed with the viruson March 27, as well as heir to the throne Prince Charles on March 25. Meanwhile, there are complaints that not everyone is taking social distancing seriously.

Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19 Grim milestone for the US On March 27 the US overtakes China in terms of the number of people infected, making it the country with the most cases of COVID-19. This came as President Donald Trump claimed that the nation would get back to work "pretty quickly." At the same time, it emerged that more than 3 million Americans had lost their jobs due to the pandemic. New York is worst-hit, with a hospital ship sent to help out.

Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19 Spain's surging death toll Spain also overtakes China in the number of COVID-19 cases on March 30, as the government toughens the severity of its lockdown. All non-essential activities are halted. Only Italy has a higher death toll than Spain. Most affected is the capital, Madrid. With funeral services overwhelmed, officials turn the Palacio de Hielo ice skating rink into a temporary morgue.

Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19 More than a million On April 2nd the Johns Hopkins University announced on Thursday that there were more than a million confirmed coronavirus cases around the world. The US is the most affected with three times the number than China, where the virus emerged in December. Over 50.000 people have died — and the outlook remains grim.

Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19 UK PM Boris Johnson hospitalized The 55-year-old was admitted to the intensive care unit at London's St Thomas hospital on Monday evening (6.4.) and was given oxygen treatment after his condition worsened. He had been diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 27. Author: Richard Connor



But he admitted that other countries are also working with uncertain figures because better data often isn't available, often as a result of a lack of proper testing.

Earlier this week, Deborah Birx, the immunologist advising the Trump administration on its response to the outbreak, said the outbreak in China was "serious, but smaller than anyone expected."

She added: "I think we're probably we were missing a significant amount of the data [from China] now that what we see happened to Italy and see what happened to Spain."

Did China know in November?

US Vice President Mike Pence said Chinese officials may have known about the outbreak, which was first detected in the city of Wuhan in December, a month before they went public.

"What appears evident now is that long before the world learned in December that China was dealing with this, and maybe as much as a month earlier than that, that the outbreak was real in China," Pence told CNN.

Read more: Disinformation and propaganda during the coronavirus pandemic

Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress expressed outrage about Beijing's apparent deception. Republican Senator Ben Sasse attacked China's numbers as "garbage propaganda."

"The claim that the United States has more coronavirus deaths than China is false," Sasse said in a statement.

Communist Party is 'lying'

"Without commenting on any classified information, this much is painfully obvious: The Chinese Communist Party has lied, is lying, and will continue to lie about coronavirus to protect the regime."

In a statement responding to the report, Michael McCaul, top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said China is "not a trustworthy partner" in the fight against COVID-19.

Read more: Opinion: From US to China, lies and coronavirus pandemic

"They lied to the world about the human-to-human transmission of the virus, silenced doctors and journalists who tried to report the truth, and are now apparently hiding the accurate number of people impacted by this disease," McCaul said.

Watch video 02:01 Share Wuhan emerges from lockdown Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3aA6N Coronavirus epicenter Wuhan slowly emerges from lockdown

He and other lawmakers have called on the State Department to launch an investigation into what he called China's "cover-up" about the pandemic.

Thousands of urns delivered

Last week, reports emerged that thousands of urns — many times the number required for those who died in the outbreak — had been delivered to funeral homes across Hubei province.

Chinese media outlet Caixin published photos of the deliveries of up to 8,500 urns arriving in Wuhan alone.

Long lines of bereaved relatives outside funeral homes have also boosted concerns that the true scale of the outbreak has not been made public.

mm/rt (AFP, Reuters)

Every evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. Sign up to receive it directly here.