Placeholder Image

字幕表 動画を再生する

  • [Reporter: Terence McKenna]

  • ♪ ♪

  • [Reporter] This was the scene on the evening of January 24th in China.

  • The Chinese New Year is celebrated by an astonishing television spectacular featuring

  • thousands of singers and dancers.

  • Promoting the accomplishments of the country and the Communist Party.

  • ♪ ♪

  • But this was four days after news of the COVID-19 outbreak

  • and so a section was added at the last-minute

  • focusing on the unfolding epidemic in the city of Wuhan.

  • TV presenters cheered on the brave healthcare workers confronting the deadly COVID-19 virus.

  • All this was quite a marked departure from how the epidemic was treated weeks earlier

  • when it was covered up by the Chinese authorities.

  • Now, infectious disease experts around the world

  • are focusing on the lessons of the COVID-19 epidemic.

  • Xi Jinping is the most powerful leader China has had since Mao Zedong.

  • The entire Chinese bureaucracy and security apparatus seeks to please him

  • and reinforce his highest announced priority: Stability.

  • Pulitzer prize-winning author Laurie Garrett specializes in public health and infectious diseases.

  • In China, she saw the SARS epidemic covered up by the Communist Party.

  • [Garrett] So, it's created a culture inside China of cover up, lying, hiding the truth.

  • Very much like what I experienced in the old Soviet Union.

  • Where everybody wants to please the higher-ups.

  • [Reporter] Garrett was working in China through that outbreak 17 years ago

  • when the government was notoriously dishonest about every aspect of it.

  • She saw the same thing happening this time

  • after the outbreak was first acknowledged on December 31st.

  • [Garrett] They announced officially from the city government, "There seems to be a bit of a problem."

  • "Don't worry about it."

  • "We have it well under control."

  • "It has nothing whatsoever to do with SARS."

  • "Everybody remain calm."

  • [Reporter] The People's Daily official newspaper ignored the announced outbreak on January 1st.

  • In fact, there was no mention of the epidemic for 20 consecutive days

  • through January 20th.

  • Dr. Yanzhong Huang is an infectious disease expert at the Council on Foreign Relations.

  • [Huang] It was interpreted in a way that this is nothing serious, you know.

  • That it's not going to lead to efficient human-to-human transmission

  • so there was a lack of effective response to the outbreak at the local level.

  • When an outbreak occurs, the time to respond is as early as possible.

  • When you have a handful of human cases.

  • When you actually can figure out, John gave it to Mary, who gave it to Susie, who gave it to Paul.

  • The response was exactly the opposite.

  • [Reporter] Almost 1/3 of Chinese city dwellers eat wild animals.

  • This is how novel viruses jump from animals to humans.

  • The SARS epidemic was eventually traced to the consumption of a small raccoon- like creature called a civet.

  • The number-one suspect in this epidemic is the Pangolin.

  • An anteater like animal that is consumed because of its supposed healing qualities for many diseases.

  • The first outbreak of COVID-19 was traced to the live animal market in Wuhan

  • that was quickly shut down.

  • Today, the government ordered live animal markets closed nationwide.

  • Kelly Lee is an infectious disease expert at Simon Fraser University.

  • [Lee] These markets are -- a lot of them are illegal.

  • And so they're not well regulated.

  • This is a really dangerous combination if we're looking at disease, microbes, pathogens, jumping species.

  • It's a perfect opportunity to do that.

  • [Reporter] The Chinese government released these videos supposedly showing the COVID-19 virus

  • being fought by an elaborate campaign to spray airplane exteriors

  • and fumigate entire cities.

  • [Garrett] There are a lot of videos like this.

  • Of these mysterious fogging machines spraying god-knows-what all over the place.

  • I can't think of any substance you could spray in an open street in the manner

  • that's depicted that would have any impact on a virus at all.

  • So it's very hard to understand what, besides public relations, was the point.

  • On January 28, director-general of the WHO, the World Health Organization

  • Dr. Tedros Adhanom braces came to Beijing for a personal meeting with President Xi Jinping

  • At that time, China was reporting 4,537 cases of infection from COVID-19.

  • An independent assessment in The Lancet medical journal estimated that as of January 25th

  • there were 75,800 in the city of Wuhan alone

  • but Dr. Tedros bent over backwards to praise China's handling of the outbreak.

  • [Lee] He has to work with the government

  • and he has to ensure that lines of communication remain open.

  • So his words were to ensure that you know the Chinese relations remained positive.

  • [Reporter] At the Tedros-Xi Jinping meeting

  • the Chinese government reportedly insisted that the WHO delay any proclamation

  • of a global health emergency.

  • Dr. Tedros complied.

  • [Huang] I believe indeed that the WHO has being following the right procedure

  • in terms of responding to the outbreak.

  • And although I do believe that they could have acted earlier.

  • [Garrett] Look, WHO has e been through this game before with the exact same country.

  • The index of suspicion ought to have been much higher.

  • We have a WHO that we've, you know, created collectively.

  • That we've given limited resources to and limited powers.

  • And we're now expecting it to do things that it was ever designed to do.

  • It's not a global health SWAT team.

  • [Reporter] It turns out that Chinese authorities have six times changed

  • the method used to tabulate infected people.

  • Which has medical experts around the world now doubting the value of their official figures.

  • [Garrett] When you started seeing this long period where the numbers either didn't budge

  • or even on one day, went backwards.

  • To me, that just looked like completely fabricated figures.

  • I hope the Chinese government, you know, not just the central government

  • but also the local government as well

  • truly draw the lessons from the outbreak and takes measures to improve

  • the transparency and openness, you know

  • to make sure that this time, the same tragic is not going to happen again.

  • [Garrett] I'm very nervous that as everybody is now returning from the lunar holiday extension

  • and eventually starts going back to work and back to school

  • that we're going to see a resurgence.

  • A sort of you know epidemic number two.

  • Gabriel Leung, whose an epidemiologist in Hong Kong

  • has predicted that this actually could end up infecting 65% of all human beings on earth.

  • [Reporter] Scientists are still figuring out the death rate

  • which appears to be much higher in China than outside it.

  • But they say that even if this outbreak is contained

  • we need to quickly learn the lessons from it.

  • With millions of people on international flights every day

  • it is likely only a matter of time before the world faces a truly global pandemic.

  • Terence McKenna, CBC News, Toronto

[Reporter: Terence McKenna]

字幕と単語

ワンタップで英和辞典検索 単語をクリックすると、意味が表示されます