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I think it's a perfectly valid question, although the wildlife market is equally valid on the evidence we have. We know that the Chinese Government is hugely ov

by neffy 7y ago

I think it's a perfectly valid question, although the wildlife market is equally valid on the evidence we have. We know that the Chinese Government is hugely overreacting to public information at this point in time - terrible as the published numbers are they are not that out of whack with a normal bad flu epidemic, which also causes significantly higher death rates. So it's either the actual death rates are higher (well, almost certainly), and/or they know or suspect something more serious. Bearing in mind too, that even China doesn't trust China on reporting - witness the central committee order a few days ago to the regions to be accurate with reports or else.

reaperducer 7y ago
We know that the Chinese Government is hugely overreacting Do we know that? All of the criticism I've seen has been of the government under-reacting. In fact, in a speech yesterday Xi told the local authorities that they weren't doing enough. Non-Chinese estimates (as of 24 January) are that there's 6,000 people infected vs. 1,300 from the Chinese government. The 6,000 figure comes from the Laboratory for the Modeling of Biological and Socio-technical Systems at Northeastern University in Boston: https://www.mobs-lab.org/2019ncov.html https://www.mobs-lab.org/2019ncov.html
- adamiscool8 7y ago
  It seems like the local government under-reacted, and now the central government is (hopefully) over-reacting.
- dwnvoted2hell 7y ago
  Your statements are too broad. The government actively denies anything is wrong among its own citizens until the disease is spread outside the country. This has been well documented both with this and with SARS. To medical professionals, they have them recommend those sick people stay home and not go out. To the cities where infected people are, it seems they have established some kind of lock down of those areas. Oh, and of course they have spread some anti-american sentiment stating that the United States is somehow responsible. Of course it's hard to tell which story is right, the seafood or the medical facility. And honestly, it doesn't have to be one or the other - it could be both. They could have been practicing the breeding of viruses which had been harvested from local areas known to harbor diseases and infestations. If procedures were in question, or being retested, they might use a novel less deadly virus as a mechanism to practice with. It's plausible. It would be nice if governments didn't blatantly lie to their citizens, but I guess that's what "progress" is in 2020.
appleflaxen 7y ago
It seems like they are reacting too late, and under-reporting.
- throw_54313 7y ago
  It seems like they are reacting just in time.
powerfoolx 7y ago
“that even China doesn't trust China on reporting” Will the federal gov just trust the state gov, especially when the it's a republican president versus a democrat governor? Of course not. That kind of overly abstract wording is what lead to misunderstanding of actual problems.

by neffy 7y ago

reaperducer 7y ago

We know that the Chinese Government is hugely overreacting Do we know that? All of the criticism I've seen has been of the government under-reacting. In fact, in a speech yesterday Xi told the local authorities that they weren't doing enough. Non-Chinese estimates (as of 24 January) are that there's 6,000 people infected vs. 1,300 from the Chinese government. The 6,000 figure comes from the Laboratory for the Modeling of Biological and Socio-technical Systems at Northeastern University in Boston: https://www.mobs-lab.org/2019ncov.html https://www.mobs-lab.org/2019ncov.html

adamiscool8 7y ago
It seems like the local government under-reacted, and now the central government is (hopefully) over-reacting.
dwnvoted2hell 7y ago
Your statements are too broad. The government actively denies anything is wrong among its own citizens until the disease is spread outside the country. This has been well documented both with this and with SARS. To medical professionals, they have them recommend those sick people stay home and not go out. To the cities where infected people are, it seems they have established some kind of lock down of those areas. Oh, and of course they have spread some anti-american sentiment stating that the United States is somehow responsible. Of course it's hard to tell which story is right, the seafood or the medical facility. And honestly, it doesn't have to be one or the other - it could be both. They could have been practicing the breeding of viruses which had been harvested from local areas known to harbor diseases and infestations. If procedures were in question, or being retested, they might use a novel less deadly virus as a mechanism to practice with. It's plausible. It would be nice if governments didn't blatantly lie to their citizens, but I guess that's what "progress" is in 2020.

appleflaxen 7y ago

It seems like they are reacting too late, and under-reporting.

throw_54313 7y ago
It seems like they are reacting just in time.

powerfoolx 7y ago

“that even China doesn't trust China on reporting” Will the federal gov just trust the state gov, especially when the it's a republican president versus a democrat governor? Of course not. That kind of overly abstract wording is what lead to misunderstanding of actual problems.