DISINFO: China’s political system prevails over the European Union in the fight against coronavirus
SUMMARY
In 2009, about 200 countries were ravaged by an outbreak of swine flu H1N1. 1,632,258 people became infected and 284,500 died. The mortality rate stood at 17.4%… Did anyone announce a pandemic in 2009 or impose a lock-down? (Like in 2020) did anyone sow panic? Nothing like this has happened. When the situations in the European Union and China are compared with each other, considering the consequences of the epidemic, many acknowledge China’s advantage, including the organised nature of its health system. While the European Union is discussing the issue of “mutual assistance” and each member is trying to benefit from the infection, China has got united through the efforts of its political leadership.
RESPONSE
The claim contains multiple disinformation narratives. The estimated death rate from swine flu was just 0.02 percent and not 17.4 percent, which is lower compared to the COVID-19 fatality rate, based on situation as of 14th of April 2020. The WHO estimate as of March 3 was that 3.4% of the people worldwide confirmed as having been infected with the new coronavirus had died, but the WHO officials were careful not to describe that as a mortality rate, as the situation changes all the time. Due to its rapid spread, the World Health Organization decided to declare coronavirus a pandemic and issued recommendations on its management. Although we have the data only for three months and the virus is still being spread, scientists note that H1N1 (swine flu) might be less lethal than COVID-19. Secondly, in 2009-2010, the World Health Organization announced H1N1 a pandemic. China reported the virus to the WHO on December 31. Around that time, Chinese doctors were noting that there was an outbreak of a SARS-like virus in the country. The police attempted to silence them and concealed information about the spread of coronavirus at an early stage, but there are well-grounded doubts to suppose that earliest cases of coronavirus were detected in November 2019. The South China Morning Post reported that China’s first confirmed COVID-19 case can be traced back to November 17. But ‘patient zero’ has yet to be confirmed. China’s statistics still raise questions. The local population and media outlets, as well as the U.S. Intelligence reports note that China misrepresents its coronavirus numbers. Further debunking can be seen from Myth Detector.