Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich pulls no punches when he believes this country has been wronged, and he is not holding back about China’s role in the spread of the coronavirus.
In a recent Fox News op-ed, Gingrich went into great detail in how China is complicit in this pandemic, but it goes far deeper than the delay in providing honest and timely information to the world.
2005 Warning
According to Gingrich, there were warning signs about a possible outbreak that would trace back to China as far back as 2005.
He wrote, “In 2005 Laurie Garrett warned in Foreign Affairs: ‘Scientists have long forecast the appearance of an influenza virus capable of infecting 40 percent of the world’s human population and killing unimaginable numbers.
“Recently, a new strain, H5N1 avian influenza, has shown all the earmarks of becoming that disease.
“Until now, it has largely been confined to certain bird species, but that may be changing.’”
He then added, “Then in 2007 four scientists at the University of Hong Kong asserted: ‘Coronaviruses are well known to undergo genetic recombination, which may lead to new genotypes and outbreaks.
“The presence of a large reservoir of SARS-CoV-like viruses in horseshoe bats, together with the culture of eating exotic mammals in southern China, is a time bomb.
“The possibility of the re-emergence of SARS and other novel viruses from animals or laboratories and therefore the need for preparedness should not be ignored.’”
Delaying the Response
In the case of the coronavirus, President Trump has often stated that China could have told us three months before, but the data simply does not match up that claim.
However, three weeks, at least, is very realistic.
China alerted the W.H.O. on December 31, 20119, that an unknown virus was present in Wuhan.
On January 1, 2020, there were reportedly more than 40 cases reported.,
On January 7, the coronavirus was identified and the first death was announced on January 11.
On January 13, it was apparent the virus had spread to other countries, with a case in Thailand being reported.
By January 22, the death toll was reported at 17 and on January 23, Wuhan was locked down.
On January 30, the W.H.O. declared a global emergency and on January 31, President Trump shut down travel from China.
According to Gingrich’s report, the first actual case was reported on December 8, with three dozen people infected by December 21. Several days later, the hospital staff was being quarantined.
On December 26, China reportedly knew this was a new strain, but failed to tell anyone for almost a full week.
Then, when doctors treating the virus made public, they were disciplined by the Chinese government.
How much time could have been saved had China just been honest? At the very least, a week, but we possibly could have been given at least three additional weeks to deal with this problem.
That would be one to three weeks that could have, when all is said and done, saved tens of thousands of lives worldwide.
Source: Fox News
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