‘Passing the Buck’ Becomes Reckless ‘Conspiracy Blame Game’

Street checkpoint in Wuhan, China. Credit: UNVBy Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame SundaramSYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 2020 (IPS) Although Wuhan local authorities undoubtedly ostracized local medical whistle-blowers, notably Dr Li Wenliang, who suspected a new virus was responsible for flu-like infections in Wuhan in late 2019, official responses were apparently not delayed, and possibly even expedited, as the novel character of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, responsible for Covid-19 infections, was not immediately self-evident. On 12 January this year, China publicly shared the genetic sequence for Covid-19 with the world. On 11 February, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses named the newly discovered virus causing Covid-19 the “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)”. From praise to conspiracy US President Donald Trump went from praising China for its transparent handling of the Covid-19 outbreak in January, after securing a deal ending escalating trade tensions, to accusing China of lack of transparency in March. Anis ChowdhuryAs he ratcheted up his criticisms of China’s handling of the virus outbreak, POTUS threatened China on 18 April with consequences if it was “knowingly responsible” for the pandemic. Trump has also accused the World Health Organization (WHO) of being ‘China-centric’, suspending its funding at a time of exceptional need. Even the mainstream media has joined such attacks on ‘soft targets’, such as UN mult...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Crime & Justice Global Headlines Health Human Rights Humanitarian Emergencies TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news