China’s cover-up of COVID-19 akin to criminal conspiracy endangering mankind: Report

The criticism of China for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak has intensified over allegations of a cover-up and hiding the severity of the disease from the world. EU Chronicle, in its stinging piece, said that the cover-up by China is akin to a criminal conspiracy that brought the global economy to the brink and endangered entire mankind.

“The incalculable human and economic toll exacted by the spread of the virus that has indications of shaking up global geopolitics would reverberate across governments, corporations and individuals for a long time to come," said the news portal.

It further claimed that China understated the death toll launched a disinformation campaign to dilute criticism and glorify its aid efforts. The new site also highlighted China’s silenced whistleblowers and citizen journalists who tried to report the fact from Wuhan and warn the world against looming health disaster.

China’s attempt to conceal information has become a major concern amidst pandemic as the two whistle-blowers, who revealed the devastation of coronavirus in Wuhan, remain missing. Citizen journalists Chen Quishi and Fang Bin uploaded videos of the impact of the deadly virus in Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in China, and their whereabouts remained unknown since then.

"The Chinese government continues its deceptive and suppressive tactics. Even after the crisis has allegedly triumphed over, censorship has remained tight and data from hospitals remains sketchy. Moreover, the government continues to muzzle unofficial sources," said the EU Chronicle.

Read: Trump Walks Out Of Press Brief After Engaging In 'China' Showdown With Asian-origin Scribe

'China urged WHO to downplay the severity'

Recently, Germany’s federal intelligence agency claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping had urged the World Health Organisation (WHO) to downplay the severity of the coronavirus outbreak. According to a report of German publication Der Speigel, Xi had personally requested the WHO chief on January 21 to delay the message about the disease and downplay the seriousness of the threat.

The WHO declared the novel coronavirus outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on January 30. The UN health agency kept warning about the possibility of a pandemic but officially declared the infectious disease as a pandemic on March 11 following which countries around the world started taking aggressive action to avert the looming crisis.

Read: WHO Warns Against Blindly Lifting COVID Lockdown, Lists 6 Criteria For Easing Restrictions

(With ANI inputs | Image: AP)