5 ms·

The Chinese sure acted like it was a possibility that it came from their own lab - their initial reaction was to downplay and cover up.

verroq 6y ago
The local governments downplay anything and everything to not look bad so I don’t think that is a particularly strong claim.
dboreham 6y ago
No other government downplayed and covered up?
- CyberDildonics 6y ago
  What is this even supposed to mean or imply here?
- goldcd 6y ago
  Ouch, my drink just came out of my nose.
- major505 6y ago
  Brazil didn't covered up, but it sure downplayed. Actually is still in the downplay process.
- mhh__ 6y ago
  That's slightly different depending on the country i.e. we have Trump on record confessing about doing both to woodward over the phone but it's not like it came from a US lab.
alphabettsy 6y ago
Using this logic isn’t it likely it came from the US? Simultaneously saying it’s nothing and China did it seems suspicious.
- upbeat_general 6y ago
  The US response was shit but A) we have a timeline of events so we know it came from China B) the US didn’t cover things up, rather some politicians (trump for one) massively downplayed the virus.
  - throwaway201103 6y ago
    It wasn't just Trump downplaying. I have emails from my employer about it from early February saying that "common influenza" still represented a greater risk. This was based on CDC/medical expert advise, no doubt.
  - sakopov 6y ago
    I find it difficult to understand how anyone is going to take action when the media trumpets that COVID isn't an issue much of January and February of this year. [1][2][3] [1]: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/time-for-a-reality-check-america-the-flu-is-a-much-bigger-threat-than-coronavirus-for-now/2020/01/31/46a15166-4444-11ea-b5fc-eefa848cde99_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/time-for-a-reality-che... [2]: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/world/europe/coronavirus-stigma-europe.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/world/europe/coronavirus-... [3]: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/01/29/800813299/worried-about-catching-the-new-coronavirus-in-the-u-s-flu-is-a-bigger-threat https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/01/29/8008132...
  - alphabettsy 6y ago
    To be clear I’m just playing devils advocate, but how can we be certain the virus originated in Wuhan? There's quite possibly information I'm not aware of that refutes this, but isn’t it equally likely that it was first discovered there and it originated somewhere else given the number of asymptomatic cases?
- lazyjones 6y ago
  The whole world said it was nothing until February or so, when Italy had its first casualties. The reason for this was the WHO's downplaying of the virus.
thelittleone 6y ago
One of the strongest indicators is China's fierce opposition to an independent investigation in to the origins of the virus. Why wouldn't they want that?
- lazyjones 6y ago
  I don't think that's a strong indicator. Why would you want an investigation that likely requires you to grant foreign investigators access to your bioweapon labs and their records?
- tomp 6y ago
  I'm inclined to agree with you based on my political views, but in this case.... Chinese were pretty reserved about outsiders meddling in their internal affairs already before Covid, so this isn't necessarily indicative.
  - thelittleone 6y ago
    China has claimed that COVID started in anywhere but China. Australia: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9024311/China-claims-coronavirus-started-AUSTRALIA.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9024311/China-claim... India: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8993667/Now-Chinese-scientists-claim-coronavirus-originated-INDIA-summer-2019.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8993667/Now-Chinese... Italy: https://www.the-sun.com/news/1824950/china-accuses-italy-starting-covid-pandemic-study-proves/ https://www.the-sun.com/news/1824950/china-accuses-italy-sta... US Army: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-claims-that-the-us-army-started-the-coronavirus/ar-BB11a1HS https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-claims-that-the-u... Since the common belief is that COVID originated in China, they stand to benefit from an independent inquiry that proves any of their above claims.
    - artichokes 6y ago
      How would they benefit?
    - thelittleone 6y ago

verroq 6y ago

The local governments downplay anything and everything to not look bad so I don’t think that is a particularly strong claim.

dboreham 6y ago

No other government downplayed and covered up?

CyberDildonics 6y ago
What is this even supposed to mean or imply here?
goldcd 6y ago
Ouch, my drink just came out of my nose.
major505 6y ago
Brazil didn't covered up, but it sure downplayed. Actually is still in the downplay process.
mhh__ 6y ago
That's slightly different depending on the country i.e. we have Trump on record confessing about doing both to woodward over the phone but it's not like it came from a US lab.

alphabettsy 6y ago

Using this logic isn’t it likely it came from the US? Simultaneously saying it’s nothing and China did it seems suspicious.

upbeat_general 6y ago
The US response was shit but A) we have a timeline of events so we know it came from China B) the US didn’t cover things up, rather some politicians (trump for one) massively downplayed the virus.
- throwaway201103 6y ago
  It wasn't just Trump downplaying. I have emails from my employer about it from early February saying that "common influenza" still represented a greater risk. This was based on CDC/medical expert advise, no doubt.
- sakopov 6y ago
  I find it difficult to understand how anyone is going to take action when the media trumpets that COVID isn't an issue much of January and February of this year. [1][2][3] [1]: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/time-for-a-reality-check-america-the-flu-is-a-much-bigger-threat-than-coronavirus-for-now/2020/01/31/46a15166-4444-11ea-b5fc-eefa848cde99_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/time-for-a-reality-che... [2]: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/world/europe/coronavirus-stigma-europe.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/world/europe/coronavirus-... [3]: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/01/29/800813299/worried-about-catching-the-new-coronavirus-in-the-u-s-flu-is-a-bigger-threat https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/01/29/8008132...
- alphabettsy 6y ago
  To be clear I’m just playing devils advocate, but how can we be certain the virus originated in Wuhan? There's quite possibly information I'm not aware of that refutes this, but isn’t it equally likely that it was first discovered there and it originated somewhere else given the number of asymptomatic cases?
lazyjones 6y ago
The whole world said it was nothing until February or so, when Italy had its first casualties. The reason for this was the WHO's downplaying of the virus.

thelittleone 6y ago

One of the strongest indicators is China's fierce opposition to an independent investigation in to the origins of the virus. Why wouldn't they want that?

lazyjones 6y ago
I don't think that's a strong indicator. Why would you want an investigation that likely requires you to grant foreign investigators access to your bioweapon labs and their records?
tomp 6y ago
I'm inclined to agree with you based on my political views, but in this case.... Chinese were pretty reserved about outsiders meddling in their internal affairs already before Covid, so this isn't necessarily indicative.
- thelittleone 6y ago
  China has claimed that COVID started in anywhere but China. Australia: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9024311/China-claims-coronavirus-started-AUSTRALIA.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9024311/China-claim... India: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8993667/Now-Chinese-scientists-claim-coronavirus-originated-INDIA-summer-2019.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8993667/Now-Chinese... Italy: https://www.the-sun.com/news/1824950/china-accuses-italy-starting-covid-pandemic-study-proves/ https://www.the-sun.com/news/1824950/china-accuses-italy-sta... US Army: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-claims-that-the-us-army-started-the-coronavirus/ar-BB11a1HS https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-claims-that-the-u... Since the common belief is that COVID originated in China, they stand to benefit from an independent inquiry that proves any of their above claims.
  - artichokes 6y ago
    How would they benefit?
  - thelittleone 6y ago