Early missteps and state secrecy in China probably allowed the coronavirus to spread farther and faster
It was almost the Lunar New Year and Pan Chuntao was feeling festive.
He knew there were reports of a virus in his city, Wuhan. But local officials urged calmness. There was no evidence it was transmitted person to person, they said. They had not reported a new case in days.
On Jan. 16, the 76-year-old left his two-bedroom apartment to attend a government-organized fair.
“We told him not to go because we saw some rumors on WeChat of doctors getting infected,” said Pan’s son-in-law, Zhang Siqiang. “But he insisted on going. He said, ‘The government says it’s not a problem, there are no cases anymore.’ ”
Pan and his daughter may now be among the the 14,300-plus people infected with a new strain of coronavirus — an outbreak that has killed at least 304 people in China, spread to more than 20 countries, disrupted the global economy and left 55 million people in China’s Hubei province under an unprecedented lockdown.
Pan was one of millions of Chinese who mingled, traveled and carried on with daily life during the critical period from mid-December to mid-January.
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[Fears of new virus trigger anti-China sentiment worldwide]
He knew there were reports of a virus in his city, Wuhan. But local officials urged calmness. There was no evidence it was transmitted person to person, they said. They had not reported a new case in days.
On Jan. 16, the 76-year-old left his two-bedroom apartment to attend a government-organized fair.
“We told him not to go because we saw some rumors on WeChat of doctors getting infected,” said Pan’s son-in-law, Zhang Siqiang. “But he insisted on going. He said, ‘The government says it’s not a problem, there are no cases anymore.’ ”
Pan and his daughter may now be among the the 14,300-plus people infected with a new strain of coronavirus — an outbreak that has killed at least 304 people in China, spread to more than 20 countries, disrupted the global economy and left 55 million people in China’s Hubei province under an unprecedented lockdown.
Pan was one of millions of Chinese who mingled, traveled and carried on with daily life during the critical period from mid-December to mid-January.
More
[Fears of new virus trigger anti-China sentiment worldwide]
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