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An explosive UK documentary has revealed undercover footage of Chinese medics admitting they were pressured by government officials to stay quiet about the contagiousness of the coronavirus.
The ITV investigation, which aired today, showed how some senior medics in Wuhan were forced to stay silent on the human-to-human transmission of the virus.
Health officials were aware the coronavirus was causing human death in December 2019, well ahead of Chinese New Year celebrations in late January 2020 when the world's most populous country was gearing up for extensive internal travel.
Chinese women dressed in traditional costume known as Hanfu tour the Forbidden City in Beijing, China (Getty / Kevin Frayer)
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives at a dinner marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Xi renewed his government's commitment to allowing Hong Kong to manage its own affairs amid continuing anti-government protests in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. (AP)
The medics told the documentary about an alleged Chinese government cover-up from the start of the pandemic, which began to sweep across the world in February last year, causing more than 2 million deaths so far.
"We knew this virus transmitted from human to human. But when we attended a hospital meeting, we were told not to speak out," one medic said.
"The provincial leaders told the hospitals not to tell the truth."
The Chinese medics said authorities knew that new year celebrations in January would "accelerate the spread of the virus".
"People suggested at city level that it shouldn't go ahead, but it did because such an event would present a harmonious and prosperous society," the medic said.
Last year Chinese New Year fell on January 25.
The documentary presented evidence the virus was spreading across China between January 5 - 17, but how no new cases were officially reported in the country during that 12-day period.
A doctor from Taiwan's Infectious Diseases Prevention and Treatment Network was interviewed by ITV, and he detailed his attempts to visit Wuhan for answers early on in the pandemic.
Medical staff transfer patients to Jin Yintan hospital in Wuhan, Hubei, China. Local authorities have confirmed that a third person has died of a pneumonia-like virus since the outbreak started in December. (Getty)
Medical personnel work in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital designated for COVID-19 patients in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. (Feature China/Barcroft Media via Getty Images) (Barcroft Media via Getty Images)
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, checks the treatment of hospitalized patients at the monitoring center and talks to medical staff on duty via a video link at Beijing Ditan Hospital in Beijing, capital of China, on Feb. 10, 2020. (Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images)
Dr Yin-Ching Chuang said the key question he wanted answered was if there was human-to-human transmission.
He said, once in Wuhan, he was repeatedly given frustratingly obtuse answers.
"While we were at the meeting, we asked a lot of questions, very unwillingly they finally came out and said, 'Limited human-to-human transmission can't be ruled out.'"
Dr Chuang said China should have informed the world far sooner that humans spread the virus.
A virologist Sir Paul Nurse, director of the Francis Crick Institute, likened the rapid spread of COVID-19 like an Australian bushfire.
"What might've taken two, three, four, five years to spread a couple of hundred years ago can spread in 24 hours, it really is like a forest fire in the Australian Outback," he said.
Australia recorded its first cases of coronavirus on January 25, one case in Victoria and three in New South Wales.
Less than one week later, on February 1, travellers from China were blocked from entering Australia.
On February 27, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the outbreak will become a pandemic.
www.9news.com.au
The ITV investigation, which aired today, showed how some senior medics in Wuhan were forced to stay silent on the human-to-human transmission of the virus.
Health officials were aware the coronavirus was causing human death in December 2019, well ahead of Chinese New Year celebrations in late January 2020 when the world's most populous country was gearing up for extensive internal travel.
Chinese women dressed in traditional costume known as Hanfu tour the Forbidden City in Beijing, China (Getty / Kevin Frayer)
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives at a dinner marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Xi renewed his government's commitment to allowing Hong Kong to manage its own affairs amid continuing anti-government protests in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. (AP)
The medics told the documentary about an alleged Chinese government cover-up from the start of the pandemic, which began to sweep across the world in February last year, causing more than 2 million deaths so far.
"We knew this virus transmitted from human to human. But when we attended a hospital meeting, we were told not to speak out," one medic said.
"The provincial leaders told the hospitals not to tell the truth."
The Chinese medics said authorities knew that new year celebrations in January would "accelerate the spread of the virus".
"People suggested at city level that it shouldn't go ahead, but it did because such an event would present a harmonious and prosperous society," the medic said.
Last year Chinese New Year fell on January 25.
The documentary presented evidence the virus was spreading across China between January 5 - 17, but how no new cases were officially reported in the country during that 12-day period.
A doctor from Taiwan's Infectious Diseases Prevention and Treatment Network was interviewed by ITV, and he detailed his attempts to visit Wuhan for answers early on in the pandemic.
Medical staff transfer patients to Jin Yintan hospital in Wuhan, Hubei, China. Local authorities have confirmed that a third person has died of a pneumonia-like virus since the outbreak started in December. (Getty)
Medical personnel work in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital designated for COVID-19 patients in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. (Feature China/Barcroft Media via Getty Images) (Barcroft Media via Getty Images)
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, checks the treatment of hospitalized patients at the monitoring center and talks to medical staff on duty via a video link at Beijing Ditan Hospital in Beijing, capital of China, on Feb. 10, 2020. (Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images)
Dr Yin-Ching Chuang said the key question he wanted answered was if there was human-to-human transmission.
He said, once in Wuhan, he was repeatedly given frustratingly obtuse answers.
"While we were at the meeting, we asked a lot of questions, very unwillingly they finally came out and said, 'Limited human-to-human transmission can't be ruled out.'"
Dr Chuang said China should have informed the world far sooner that humans spread the virus.
A virologist Sir Paul Nurse, director of the Francis Crick Institute, likened the rapid spread of COVID-19 like an Australian bushfire.
"What might've taken two, three, four, five years to spread a couple of hundred years ago can spread in 24 hours, it really is like a forest fire in the Australian Outback," he said.
Australia recorded its first cases of coronavirus on January 25, one case in Victoria and three in New South Wales.
Less than one week later, on February 1, travellers from China were blocked from entering Australia.
On February 27, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the outbreak will become a pandemic.
Documentary claims to expose Chinese coronavirus cover-up
An explosive UK documentary has revealed undercover footage of Chinese medics admitting they were pressured...
www.9news.com.au
