China lied about the number of COVID-19 patients in Wuhan, ground zero for the global pandemic, ahead of a visit for President Xi Jinping's March 10 visit to the region, a local doctor told Kyodo News.

The same day China's health authorities reported no new cases of coronavirus in Wuhan, several symptomatic patients were released early from quarantine, while health officials suspended a portion of testing, according to the report as relayed by the Japan Times.

Hospital refuses to admit #CCPVirus patient as they want to keep "zero new case" record. Upset family starts a fight with staff, on Mar. 23, Not sure which hospital.

Click here for more : https://t.co/fSwmxEsPYp#COVID2019 #Coronavirus #CoronavirusOutbreak #CoronavirusPandemic pic.twitter.com/uUGQTEgEgt — Jennifer Zeng 曾錚 (@jenniferatntd) March 23, 2020

According to the doctor - who works at a quarantine facility - the government figures "cannot be trusted,"as the number of patients under treatment is being deliberately reduced to show the CCP's 'success' in getting the epidemic under control.

The doctor, in his 40s, whose responsibilities include determining whether a patient is discharged from a hospital expressed strong concerns that if the truth remains hidden from the public, another outbreak could occur. Guidelines from the National Health Commission stipulate that patients must test negative for the virus twice and be cleared for pneumonia via a computerized tomography scan before being discharged. But according to the doctor, from around the time of Xi’s visit, even though his patients still exhibited signs of pneumonia, the patients were released from quarantine at the discretion of a “specialist” from the epidemic prevention and control authority. -Japan Times

After the government specialist began releasing patients, the criteria for discharge was altered - and a "mass release of infected patients began," he said.

Meanwhile, interview questions for people exhibiting symptoms were similarly simplified, while a blood test to detect antibodies produced during infection was discontinued - resulting in suspected patients being released back into the community.