I wrote to correspondents knowledgeable about the region asking if
they had any feedback on the Taiwan News story about the Tencent
astronomical coronavirus figures. Recall that this was the Taiwan
News story:
Here's one response:> "On late Saturday evening (Feb. 1), Tencent, on its
> webpage titled "Epidemic Situation Tracker", showed confirmed
> cases of novel coronavirus (2019nCoV) in China as standing at
> 154,023, 10 times the official figure at the time. It listed the
> number of suspected cases as 79,808, four times the official
> figure.
> The number of cured cases was only 269, well below the official
> number that day of 300. Most ominously, the death toll listed was
> 24,589, vastly higher than the 300 officially listed that
> day."
> https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3871594
Another person responded as follows:> "I don't think anyone in China knows what is going on
> for sure. I saw some of the small city governments ordered
> everyone to euthanize their pets immediately to prevent the virus
> from spreading. I confirmed that they really did this with a
> friend in XiAn. This direction was quickly overturned by the
> central government but it shows the level of panic in China right
> now.
> I do suspect the number of infected and death toll is
> significantly higher than reported, but I think the death rate is
> mainly due to the hospitals being over run and not having the
> ability to treat or even isolate patients properly. I note that
> outside of China the death rate is much lower.
> I doubt the quarantine efforts will be effective. It's already
> gone to far and Chinese people are very bad at obeying laws. They
> are cats and really can't be controlled."
He referenced another report that referred to the Taiwan News> "Fake news in fake news.
> No-one is reliable these days. I would trust Tencent over the
> government but if no-one is actually counting..."
story, and said the following:
In other news:> "This story [Taiwan News] made the rounds
> yesterday... ...and the Tencent miniapp who distributed the data
> has now been suspended.
> (China specialist sales Jimmy, who sent the above, believes the
> nCov numbers are being seriously under-estimated. He remains at an
> "8 out of 10" on concern level. This is a contrarian view.)
> Contrarian because Asia tech shares are back within 1% of all-time
> highs.
> Among other reasons (nCov death rate is seeming low, ex-China
> cases have not exploded, new cases look to have
> peaked)... ...Huawei announced a couple days ago they are
> basically back to full production."
Th-th-th-th-th-th-th-th-that's all folks!> "Original China Virus Whistleblower Doctor Dies
> The Chinese doctor who tried to raise the alarm about the new
> coronavirus before it was even identified has died of the deadly
> virus. ...
> As a reminder, Li Wenliang - who warned the public of a potential
> "SARS-like" disease in December 2019 - was questioned by local
> health authority, and warned: "We solemnly warn you: If you keep
> being stubborn, with such impertinence, and continue this illegal
> activity, you will be brought to justice - is that understood?"
> Dr, Li was later summoned by Wuhan police to sign a reprimand
> letter in which he was accused of "spreading rumors online" and
> "severely disrupting social order."
> https://www.zerohedge.com/health/origin ... octor-dies
"
