WORLDVIEW: What if China’s coronavirus numbers are bulls*#t?

The novel coronavirus was born in Wuhan and spent its tumultuous adolescence in China's Hubei province. Much of our understanding of the adult virus was built on data from the Chinese outbreak. But now, governments around the world are questioning how accurate and complete China's data is.

A new report by the US intelligence community concludes that China underreported the number of coronavirus cases it had and the number of Covid-19 deaths. There is some clear evidence of some underreporting – China recently added another 1,500 cases to its count that were originally excluded because the infected developed no symptoms. There have also been images circulating of thousands of urns stacked outside Wuhan funeral homes, raising speculation that the true death toll has been concealed.

China has responded to the suggestions that its reporting has been false by saying that the US report is an attempt by the Americans to shift the blame for the virus to cover up its own poor response to the crisis. The US now leads the world in confirmed coronavirus cases, although its death toll remains lower than that of Spain or Italy, and US president Donald Trump long denied the seriousness of the pandemic.

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