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Internally, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Pre-
vention (China CDC) labeled the coronavirus a level one emer-
gency, the most serious rating. Yet on January 15 Li Qun, head
of the China CDC’s emergency center, told Chinese state tele-
vision that the risk of human-to-human spread was low. Li’s
statement directly contradicted what dozens of Wuhan doctors,
medical workers, and lab technicians al-
ready knew: the novel coronavirus was
highly transmissible from person to per- “We knew then that the
son and likely to spread rapidly. “We government was lying.
knew then that the government was ly- But we don’t know
ing,” says one local doctor in Wuhan. why they needed to lie.
Maybe they thought
“But we don’t know why they needed to [the coronavirus] could
lie. Maybe they thought it could be con- be controlled.” 5
trolled.” In the race to unlock the virus’s
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secrets, such delays and deceptions —A local doctor in Wuhan
would prove crucial.

A Fateful Celebration
One week after the China CDC’s announcement, Xi and the CCP
reversed course. Xi seemed to realize that his nation’s credibility
worldwide was at stake. As a result, Chinese authorities admitted
that the novel coronavirus was a major threat to the population.
The People’s Daily, the CCP’s offi cial newspaper, detailed how Xi
was marshaling all available resources to fi ght the outbreak. Of-
fi cially, the government began to call for complete openness re-
garding information. As the nation’s main law enforcement com-
mission warned, “Anyone who deliberately delays and hides the
reporting of [virus] cases out of his or her own self-interest will be
nailed on the pillar of shame for eternity.” 6
Nonetheless, Wuhan was not only ground zero for the corona-
virus. This huge city of 11 million people, 3 million more than New
York City, was also host of an annual gathering of legislators and
advisory groups. As usual, local authorities were anxious to pres-
ent their city in the best possible light by concealing bad news.

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