6 KEY DAYS THAT COULD HAVE SAVED THE WORLD...

'SIX KEY DAYS, THAT COULD HAVE SAVED THE WORLD FROM THE PANDEMIC' BUT CHINA LIED...

China didn’t warn public of likely pandemic for 6 key days
By The Associated Press [April 15, 2020]

In the six days after top Chinese officials secretly determined they likely were facing a pandemic from a new coronavirus, the city of Wuhan at the epicenter of the disease hosted a mass banquet for tens of thousands of people; millions began traveling through for Lunar New Year celebrations.

President Xi Jinping warned the public on the seventh day, Jan. 20. But by that time, more than 3,000 people had been infected during almost a week of public silence, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press and expert estimates based on retrospective infection data.

Six days...

That delay from Jan. 14 to Jan. 20 was neither the first mistake made by Chinese officials at all levels in confronting the outbreak, nor the longest lag, as governments around the world have dragged their feet for weeks and even months in addressing the virus.

But the delay by the first country to face the new coronavirus came at a critical time — the beginning of the outbreak. China’s attempt to walk a line between alerting the public and avoiding panic set the stage for a pandemic that has infected more than 2 million people and taken more than 133,000 lives.

Disclaimer: Original article written by is by The Associated Press as of April 15, 2020. Reposted on this blog for the purpose of archiving only.

https://apnews.com/68a9e1b91de4ffc166acd6012d82c2f9?utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_medium=AP

CHINA stripping off medical supplies from other countries amid the pandemic...

A whistleblower told The Sydney Morning Herald the exercise was a worldwide effort and continued until the end of February.

How bulk supplies of Australia's face masks, hand sanitisers and other vital medical items were shipped to China as the coronavirus pandemic took hold bulk supplies of vital medical items were shipped from Sydney to China at the request of a Beijing-backed property giant as the coronavirus pandemic took hold in Australia. 

Greenland Group, which manages property developments across the globe with the support of the Chinese government, told employees at its Sydney office to stop their normal work in January.

Instead, they were tasked with sourcing face masks, hand sanitisers, thermometers and other medical items, storing them at their office and shipping them to China.

[Pallet loads of essentials including A2 milk powder, baby formula and medical supplies being prepared for export, A Current Affair has exposed]

A whistleblower told The Sydney Morning Herald the exercise was a worldwide effort and continued until the end of February.

Medical supplies and groceries being shipped in bulk to China from Australia  and it comes as Australia's supermarket shelves are stripped bare amid COVID-19.

Medical supplies are being shipped in bulk to China, forcing doctors to buy painting masks from Bunnings to protect themselves from coronavirus

Australian doctors and nurses are turning to the hardware giant - and even purchasing full-faced snorkelling kits from other retailers in fear of a looming protective gear shortage.

Some medics are blaming the government for creating the 'mad' situation by not assuring health workers that enough equipment had been sourced to protect them as the pandemic continues to take hold. 

'No one... is getting information about what's going on [with medical supplies] and although the case numbers are still low, people are starting to worry. What we can’t tolerate... is not knowing what's going on,' one surgeon at a Sydney hospital told The Australian.

Meanwhile, a Chinese property company with Australian offices told employees in January to stop their normal work - and instead source face masks, hand sanitisers, thermometers and other medical items to be shipped to China.

'Basically all employees, the majority of whom are Chinese, were asked to source whatever medical supplies they could,' a whistleblower told the Sydney Morning Herald about the medical supplies sourcing, which continued through February.

This week, A Current Affair exposed a Melbourne warehouse full of Australian products packed for export to China.

When asked where the goods were going, one of the workers said they were heading overseas.

'Probably to mainland (China), or somewhere like Hong Kong, Taiwan something like that,' said the worker, wearing a surgical face mask.

Footage from inside the packing centre showed pallets loaded with A2 milk powder, medications, bathroom supplies and baby formula, ready to be sent abroad.

Frustrated mother Eva said she was 'appalled' by daigou shoppers - individuals who buy goods for overseas export - stripping shelves while locals struggled to buy what they need.

'They don't really care about us [Australians], they just care about making money off these products and sending them back to China, it's wrong,' Eva said.

The process is entirely legal and Daily Mail Australia does not suggest the company or its employees are involved in any wrongdoing. 

But former Victorian Senator Derryn Hinch described such operations as 'disgraceful'.

'If in fact I can't buy more than two things of shower cleaner, surely to God you can stop people sending tonnes of masks overseas,' he said.

'It could cost lives in this country.'

Medical experts are worried a potential shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) will leave frontline medical staff exposed to infection and unable to care for patients.

ANU College of Health and Medicine Professor Shane Thomas told Daily Mail Australia the country did not have enough masks, gowns and eye shields.

'It's something personally I have a lot of concern about,' he said.

'The fact we don't have enough on hand is a problem. We have two big shortages: PPE and (coronavirus) testing kids.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8167869/Inside-Australian-factory-packed-coronavirus-supplies-sent-CHINA.html