The Associated Press is reporting this morning that Chinese health officials warned of the dangers of coronavirus while on a “secret teleconference” that happened “nearly a week before alerting the public”:

In a secret teleconference, top Chinese health officials called the coronavirus outbreak the “most severe challenge since SARS” _ nearly a week before alerting the public, documents show. https://t.co/zxZbYC7pgD — The Associated Press (@AP) April 15, 2020

According to the AP, they knew then that human-to-human transmission was happening but the WHO was saying on that same day that there was “no clear evidence of transmission”:

Bombshell from @AP: internal Chinese documents show central govt held teleconference on Jan 14 with instructions from Xi on epidemic & acknowledged likely H2H transmission.

China CDC and WHO publicly said that day "no clear evidence" of transmission. https://t.co/epU4m33SRo — Gerry Shih (@gerryshih) April 15, 2020

They’re estimating that 3000 people became infected during the week of inaction:

WHAT A DIFFERENCE SIX DAYS MAKE

"More than 3,000 people had been infected during almost a week of public silence, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press and expert estimates based on retrospective infection data." https://t.co/ehzIp89VVF — Yuri Kageyama (@yurikageyama) April 15, 2020

If the rest of the world only knew then what we know now:

“With the coming of the Spring Festival, many people will be traveling, and the risk of transmission and spread is high,” the memo continued. “All localities must prepare for and respond to a pandemic.”https://t.co/smlcEjaROA — Mark Schliebs (@mark_schliebs) April 15, 2020

But rather than warn everyone, life went on as usual:

Tens of thousands dined at a mass banquet in Wuhan – nearly a week after Beijing ordered secret pandemic preparations but failed to warn the public, documents show. The delay came at a critical time. https://t.co/33rafoSniO — The Associated Press (@AP) April 15, 2020

And travel was already happening:

China didn’t warn public of the outbreak for 6 key days – @AP based on internal docs. During that time, millions began traveling for Lunar NY. “China’s attempt to walk a line btwn alerting the public and avoiding panic set the stage” for pandemic, AP says https://t.co/wiOklh49Rx — Hiroko Tabuchi #StayAtHome (@HirokoTabuchi) April 15, 2020

China lied, people died:

For a long time people talked about China's censorship and opacity as a China problem. No one really wanted to challenge them and there was money to make, so people looked the other way. Now the information controls fundamental to the CCP's rule have become a global problem. https://t.co/sH4cqAd9wd — Paul Mozur 孟建国 (@paulmozur) April 15, 2020

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