The coronavirus rages on in China and is quickly spreading throughout the world. The Chinese government would have us believe that they have things under control. Additionally, much of the current medical data that the CDC and WHO use to formulate a plan to combat the coronavirus comes solely from the Chinese government. The real question that many throughout the medical and scientific community are asking is: should we believe their numbers? History says no.

The Chinese government has a penchant for lying.

A communist regime the likes of the Chinese government is built on perception more than reality. The Chinese elite must keep the perception that they are in control at whatever cost. Over the decades, the Chinese have fudged their internal numbers on a vast array of topics to make their control look more favorable. Population numbers, GDP, Muslim concentration camps, and even air pollution have been misrepresented by Chinese leadership simply to portray their control in a more favorable light. Remember, in a communist society, everything is the government and the government is everything. If any area is failing, every area is failing.

12) This Reuters piece is quite damning. China knew about the virus much earlier and could have acted much sooner and responded with testing much faster to the #coronavirus. https://t.co/PmmVxhXo33 — Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) January 28, 2020

Can we believe the Chinese government about coronavirus?

The short answer is probably not. The Chinese government is keeping a very tight lip on the actual numbers regarding infected citizens, deaths, and the R-naught (reproductive number) in regards to the coronavirus. Reports have been released today stating that the Chinese government rejected offers from the CDC to help them contain the outbreak.

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Because allowing the CDC to render aid would require them to be brutally honest with their numbers.



This is probably one of the scarier developments to date with #coronavirus. Confirming our fears that China isn’t being honest with the world. https://t.co/aJsM7QMKsY — Bradley Brewer 🇺🇸 (@realBradBrewer) January 28, 2020

China’s reluctance to receive aid from outside resources (CDC, WHO, and others) puts, at the very least, doubt in the minds of many. Most point to the statements made by China in comparison to their actions. China (for the most part) downplayed the severity of the outbreak in multiple public statements last week. At the same time, they were quarantining upwards of 50 MILLION people in unprecedented whole-city quarantines.

As I warned: the ACTUAL # of #coronavirus cases in #China is MUCH more than reported, as evidenced (in part) by #China’s recent and unprecedented actions including trying to lockdown 50+ million people.



No one wanted to admit that there was a problem until it was far too late.🤬 https://t.co/CrvDFPtK2Q — Dr. Dena Grayson (@DrDenaGrayson) January 27, 2020

Let me give my fellow American readers some context. Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, was completely quarantined off. Wuhan is a city of 11 million people. If we were going to quarantine American equivalents (by population), it would compare to quarantining New York City (8.5 million) and Chicago (2.7 million) at the same time. No small undertaking, but that is just one city under quarantine in China at the moment. It seems that the actions of the Chinese government tell a different story from their press releases.

Photos leaked showing roads in and out of #Wuhan (even small side roads) being barricaded with piles of dirt/rocks to block all traffic in or out. Scary situation brewing.



China isn’t telling the truth.#WuhanCoronavirus #CoronavirusOutbreak #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/LHs9M9GI6D — Bradley Brewer 🇺🇸 (@realBradBrewer) January 25, 2020

Why does the Chinese data matter?

Wuhan, China is ground zero for this new strain of coronavirus. The majority of those infected and dying are within China’s borders. The early data on outbreaks of this sort is some of the most critical because it sets the basis and precedent of how to best fight the outbreak (vaccines, quarantines, best practices, etc.). What worries many in the medical/scientific community is that we may be losing critical time to get this pandemic under control.

Time will tell whether the data out of China can be trusted. Over the coming days/weeks, the coronavirus will continue to spread if things don’t change drastically. As it does, independent organizations like the CDC and WHO, in addition to national governments, will be able to conduct their own tests and gather their own data. My hope is that the data will be consistent with what China has been reporting, but I, like many, don’t believe that will be the case. This will lead to countless lives lost for no reason. There is no time to waste.