A Chinese media outlet covering the deadly coronavirus in the country has raised suspicion about the actual death toll of the illness after local doctors said they have been cremating victims of the disease in secret.
“Also, one thing that #China is hiding is the number of death caused by the virus,” tweeted Deutsche Welle reporter William Yang. “Credible Chinese media outlet @initiumnews interviewed people working at local cremation centers, confirming that many dead bodies were sent directly from the hospitals to the cremation centers.”
As the official death toll in China eclipsed 170 on Thursday, Hong Kong–based digital outlet Initium Media published an article interviewing doctors who said they were sending dead victims of the virus to be cremated.
Also, one thing that #China is hiding is the number of death caused by the virus. Credible Chinese media outlet @initiumnews interviewed people working at local cremation centers, confirming that many dead bodies were sent directly from the hospitals to the cremation centers…
— William Yang (@WilliamYang120) January 29, 2020
Republican Sen. Tom Cotton called for a travel ban to and from China last week and said Thursday that the Chinese government could be lying about the epicenter of the outbreak.
“I would note that Wuhan has China’s only biosafety level-four super laboratory that works with the world’s most deadly pathogens to include, yes, coronavirus,” Cotton said.
Yang said, “There are reasons to remain skeptical about what #China has been sharing with the world because while they have been more transparent about certain things related to the virus, they continue to be sketchy and unreliable in other aspects.”
Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have attempted to mitigate panic, claiming the risk to the American public is “very low.”
Mark Woolhouse, professor of infectious diseases at the University of Edinburgh, said managing fear surrounding the mystery illness can be a difficult task that sometimes leads to “draconian measures.”
