We look at China because they were the first to suffer from the virus and also to control it, and we assume that their data is true, despite their long history of making up figures. These days we need to consume everything that suggests we will get out of this trance, but let's not blindly devour everything that falls on our plate. Each country sends WHO its official figures. They all underestimate the number of infected, but in the case of China the variation could be considerable: local health officials who do not want to give their names have recognized that many cases are not being accounted for because politicians need to send ever better figures to Beijing. There are also doubts about the number of deaths. The Caixin magazine, which sometimes manages to get out of the official line, assures that 2,500 funeral urns arrived at one of the eight crematoriums in Wuhan last week and estimates the total number of those distributed at 35,000. Is China Hiding Data? It has done so in every natural and health catastrophe of the last century. You have to suspect by mere induction. Three examples.
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This is not a war- Antibodies
In 2008, an earthquake killed 70,000 lives in Sichuán. Among them, children buried under their schools, which had been built with low-quality materials. The official number of deceased children was 5,000. Double, according to independent journalists, lawyers and parents, who denounced the corruption of the authorities. Dozens of them ended up detained.
Five years earlier, when SARS was detected in Guangzhou, the issue was classified as "top secret." The authorities took three months to admit the existence of the disease. Doctors who criticized the Party's opacity had problems with the police.
And another scandal that marked entire generations: the towns of AIDS. In the 1990s, farmers in the poorest provinces contracted HIV by selling their blood. Local authorities did business by reselling the plasma to laboratories. They mounted such a promotional campaign that the villagers allowed themselves to be extracted until they lost consciousness. The samples were mixed without control, the needles were not disinfected. Official estimates added up to 300,000 infected, but activists spoke of a million. Many whistleblowers were retaliated against.
More cases come to mind and they all follow a similar pattern: officials who pervert the numbers; detained or missing complainants. On this occasion, the propaganda war between China and the United States complicates the analysis because some people think that putting the magnifying glass on one is equivalent to buying the other's version. A report by US intelligence assures that the figures for the Asian country are false; China replies that Washington has been so ineffective in controlling the virus in its territory that it has to send the CIA to make reports. Sadly, Trump's very serious resignation is compatible with secrecy in China. @ Anafuentesf
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