China's cases of Covid-19 are finally declining. A WHO expert explains why.

[LiberalArkie]

There’s one country in the world that currently has the most knowledge of and experience with Covid-19: China.

China, and specifically Hubei province, is where the Covid-19 disease emerged; it’s where scientists first sequenced the virus’s genome; it’s where 83 percent of the 89,000 cases known to date have been recorded; and it’s where doctors and health authorities have been battling an epidemic for two months — while other countries braced themselves for outbreaks — using unprecedented public health measures, including a cordon sanitaire that affected millions.

In recent weeks, though, the number of new infections and deaths reported in China has been declining, which suggests spread of the virus may have peaked there and that transmission is slowing down.

At the same time, cases are rapidly increasing in several other countries, with major outbreaks in South Korea, Italy, and Iran — and a growing case count in the United States.

Snip

https://www.vox.com/2020/3/2/21161067/coronavirus-covid19-china

[customerserviceguy]

1. I'd have a hard time

believing the Chinese government, given their behavior so far.

[pnwmom]

2. Or they're just lying. How would we know? nt

[dewsgirl]

3. This 100 percent, they are lying about the numbers,

so no real sense of anything can be measured here.

[Vivienne235729]

4. If you don't test for it, the numbers miraculously go down. I don't believe a word they say.

[Nonhlanhla]

5. I actually find this interesting

I tend to trust the WHO source, and if this is indeed true, it means two things: the death rate can be kept under 1% only IF good healthcare is prioritized and available; and there is an urgent need for rapid, free testing and follow up to break the chains of transmission. My hope is that local governments in the US will step up, since the federal government is not to be trusted.

South Korea has also been pretty good about this: lots of social distancing, closing of schools, rapid mass testing. There are lessons to be learned from them.