Timeline: China's Censorship on COVID-19 Whistleblowers


Medical Workers

 

  1. 12/1 - 12/30/2019: Wuhan hospitals received at least 27 cases of "unidentified" pneumonia. The virus, identified via genome sequence (at least nine samples), is a "SARS-like" (82% identical to SARS) coronavirus.
  2. 12/30/2019 ~4 pm: Ai Fen, director of the emergency department at Wuhan Central Hospital, alerted her classmates on WeChat about the new SARS-like virus without disclosing patient detail.
  3. 12/30/2019 5:17 pm: Dr. Li Wenliang forwarded Ai Fen's warning to a WeChat doctor group, reminding others to take protection. The message quickly spread on social media.
  4. 12/31/2019 1:30 am - 4 am: Local authority called Li Wenliang to a meeting, warned him not to "spread the rumor," and threatened to fire him. 
  5. 12/31/2019 - 1/3/2020: Eight doctors, including Li Wenliang, received warnings from the authority. They signed statements admitting that they "spread lies." Chinese National TV reported the eight doctors' reprimand and assured that a SARS-like outbreak was a rumor.
  6. 12/31/2019 - 1/15/2020: The Wuhan Health Commission denied human-to-human transmission of the virus. Despite the family-cluster cases and an infection case of a nurse, the authority warned Wuhan doctors not to report suspect cases or send samples to sequence. The administration warned doctors not to disclose any information, even to family members. Most medical staff worked without facial masks nor protective suits. 
  7. 1/11 - 1/16/2020: Wuhan Central Hospital reported 26 medical staff infection cases of COVID-19. 
  8. 1/13/2020: Thailand reported the first COVID-19 case outside of China, a Chinese woman from Wuhan. She had never been to the Huanan Seafood Market. 
  9. 1/16/2020: Japan reported the first case of COVID-19, a Chinese man from Wuhan who had not been to the Huannan Seafood Market.
  10. 1/20/2020: China confirmed human-to-human transmission of the virus after some medical staff in Guangdong Province got infected by the virus. 
  11. 12/31- 1/23/2020: Five million people left Wuhan before the authority locked down the city.
  12. 2/7/2020: Li Wenliang, the first whistleblower, died from COVID-19.
  13. 3/10/2020: Chinese Renwu Magazine published an interview with Ai Fen, "the whistle distributor." The Chinese authority quickly removed the article throughout the entire Chinese internet. At the same time, Ai Fen "disappeared." 


Scientific Research

 

  1. 12/27/2019: Gene sequencing of the Wuhan coronavirus sample indicated that it is 82% identical to SARS. The similarity of virus sequences suggested its possibility of human-to-human transmission.
  2. 1/1/2020: Hubei Health Commission informed a sequencing company to stop sequencing suspect cases and destroy already sequenced samples. 
  3. 1/12/2020: Chinese authority closed Zhang Yongzhen's Laboratory (located in Shanghai) after he published the genome sequence of SARS-CoV-2 sequence on GenBank, an international sequence data warehouse. One week before that, Zhang warned the administration about the high possibility of human-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2 but received no reply.
  4. 4/15/2020: Chinese authority ordered that all research about the origins of COVID-19 need approval from the government before researchers submit them to international scientific journals.


(Photo Credit: "Ai Fen" https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3074622/coronavirus-wuhan-doctor-says-officials-muzzled-her-sharing)


Reference:

 

  1. The Daily Mail: SARS fears in China as 27 patients are struck down with 'unidentified' type of pneumonia similar to the killer virus of the early 2000s https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-7839625/Dozens-struck-unidentified-pneumonia-China.html
  2. BBC: The Chinese doctor who tried to warn others about coronavirus https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51364382
  3. South China Morning Post: Coronavirus: Wuhan doctor says officials muzzled her for sharing report on WeChat https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3074622/coronavirus-wuhan-doctor-says-officials-muzzled-her-sharing



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