up and down

Excerpts from the new below shows how serious things have become. Now we can even have people dying from Corona virus despite the test results comes out negative. https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/03/07/at-least-five-suspected-covid-19-patients-have-died-in-indonesia-what-we-know-so-far.html Indonesia has confirmed four cases of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), but concerns remain as to whether tests run by the Health Ministry's laboratory are accurate. At least five people suspected of having COVID-19 have died since late February before authorities eventually announced two confirmed cases on Monday. Some of the suspected patients died while waiting for their test results, although all of their tests eventually came back negative. In one case, a health official even admitted to the possibility of flawed results from the test. Foreign envoys have reportedly questioned the country's testing capabilities, while experts have urged the government to partner with independent laboratories and send samples to other countries as a comparison. It was only after the country's first confirmed cases that the Health Ministry announced its decision to assign regional labs to test people suspected of carrying the novel coronavirus.

Morrison is not doing a god job himself. The things he said.... argh forget about it.

This is also not helping to contain the virus. Truth not told. Imagine more and cmore countries doing this not reporting the actual data and conceal the facts what will be happening now? https://tbsnews.net/international/coronavirus-chronicle/indonesian-president-admits-he-suppressed-data-coronavirus Indonesian president admits he suppressed data on coronavirus spread The news comes as no surprise to the local diplomats or scientific experts who had warned about the silent spread of the disease Indonesia's President has admitted that he deliberately held back correct information about the spread of coronavirus to prevent the public from panicking. This confession came from Joko Widodo when one of his cabinet members, the transport minister was found positive of coronavirus, reports The Telegraph. According to the Jakarta Post, "We did not deliver certain information to the public because we did not want to stir panic. We have worked hard to overcome this since the novel coronavirus outbreak can happen regardless of the country border," the president said. The president urged the public to remain vigilant, pledging to inform people whenever a new cluster appeared. Most confirmed cases have emerged in the capital, Jakarta, but infections have also been reported in cities in western and central Java, Manado, Pontianak and the holiday island of Bali. The authorities are suggesting corporations to let their employees work from home in several provinces; meanwhile some cities have closed down educational institutions like capital Jakarta. "The most important thing right now is social distancing. That's why I said that in this condition we should work from home, learn at home and pray at home, " said Mr Widodo. But the news comes as no surprise to the local diplomats or scientific experts who had warned about the silent spread of the disease. In February, The US embassy in Jakarta has warned the government to calculate the case numbers carefully. A report of the University of Southampton based on the smartphone and flight data of travelers from Wuhan, the Chinese city that was the initial epicentre of the virus, also revealed that it was statistically implausible for Indonesia to have no cases.

Thank you for your constant update here.

Thank you very much for your information.

Thanks for your information. By the way China got 34 new cases today and 8 more deaths. So these cases are not from Wuhan?

Everyone is wondering is this the correct data or not? Many countries are under reporting their Corona virus patient data.

Very worried for all the American continents and European continents as the Corona Virus continue to spread over there. In US totally speechless to see such a president who thinks everything is fine in US. He thinks by blocking China from entering US the entire US will be safe. Look at the damages he has done. Hardly any testing done in US due to not enough of test kid is laughable. America well known for their good medic got a it all wrong. Now anyone in US could have been infected with the virus due to the poor job done to contain the virus at the early stage.

In the midst of battling the Corona Virus we have politicians who tried to silence every one and make those who report the truth about Corona Virus vanished. Oh dear me. https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2020/03/translation-essay-by-missing-property-tycoon-ren-zhiqiang/ Real estate tycoon turned commentator Ren Zhiqiang, known as “the Cannon” for his online outspokenness, was one of the few liberal “Big V” microbloggers remaining on Weibo after a 2013 rumor crackdown leveled prominent voices on the platform. In February 2016, Ren was banished from social media after criticizing a Xi Jinping’s speech emphasizing the media’s duty to serve the Party. Ren was also given a one-year probation from the Party and attacked by official media. Several months later, he reemerged in the public spotlight expressing far less contentious opinions at a forum on environmentally friendly enterprises. At Radio Free Asia, Qiao Long reports that Ren has disappeared and may be detained in connection to an article he is believed to have written criticizing the government for their response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan: Citing “friends in mainland China,” Han [Lianchao, overseas democracy activist] said Ren was detained on Thursday, and is being held at a CCDI training facility in a suburb of Beijing. […] Private entrepreneur Wang Ying posted to his friend circle in the social media app WeChat: “My friend Ren Zhiqiang is incommunicado! … Where are you?” […] Ren’s detention comes after an article hitting out at the government response to the coronavirus epidemic circulated online. The article was attributed to one “Ren Zhiqiang,” but RFA was unable to verify whether he wrote it. […] The article, titled “The lives of the people are ruined by the virus and a seriously sick system,” doesn’t mention President Xi, but it takes aim at decisions made under his direct command, nonetheless, including the decision to go ahead with a mass Lunar New Year banquet for thousands of people that resulted in a huge cluster of COVID-19 cases in the weeks that followed. […] [Source] CDT has translated excerpts from the essay attributed to Ren “the Cannon” Zhiqiang, in which he again took aim at a Xi Jinping speech. Four years ago it was Xi’s call for the media to serve the CCP that irked Ren; this time it was a February 23 teleconferenced address to cadres nationwide, which brimmed with the the “positive energy” that Xi is known to promote: […] This outbreak of the Wuhan pneumonia epidemic has verified the reality: when all media took on the “surname of the Party” the people “were abandoned” indeed [a reference to a forecast Ren made in his response to Xi’s declaration that the media should “bear the Party surname”]. Without a media representing the interests of the people by publishing the actual facts, the people’s lives are being ravaged by both the virus and the major illness of the system. [..] I too am curiously and conscientiously studying [Xi’s teleconferenced February 23] speech, but what I saw in it was the complete opposite of the “importance” reported by all types of media and online. I saw not an emperor standing there exhibiting his “new clothes,” but a clown who stripped naked and insisted on continuing being emperor. Despite holding a series of loincloths up in an attempt to cover the reality of your nakedness, you don’t in the slightest hide your resolute ambition to be an emperor, or the determination to let anyone who won’t let you be destroyed. […] This conference [speech] may also reflect a crisis of governance within the Party, but it didn’t show people that there were any critical opinions at the meeting, it didn’t investigate or reveal any facts, it didn’t clarify the cause of the outbreak, and still nobody was reviewed for or admitted their responsibility. Trying to cover up the true facts with various “great achievements,” as if this epidemic began with your written instructions on January 7. So, what happened in December? Why wasn’t information made available promptly? Why did CCTV on January 1 investigate news about eight rumormongers? And how could we have the January 3 admonishment? Why was the United States notified of the outbreak on January 3? Why not mention the various crises that happened before January 7? Why haven’t the January 7 instruction been made public, not yet even today?! How were various national-level meetings able to gather after January 7? Why are you still traveling abroad? Why did you celebrate Spring Festival in Yunnan? […] No longer is the question about why the situation wasn’t announced in a timely fashion being asked. This is precisely because those who have grasped power want not to shoulder any responsibility, and refuse to allow society to hold them accountable. Just wanting to use “great accomplishments” to cover up their own embarrassment, while at the same time using all sorts of Party media for so-called public education and public opinion guidance; standardizing and updating information release mechanisms; publicizing the Party’s decision-making deployment, charming and moving deeds, leading public opinion with “positive energy,” and other methods to firmly block all traces of truth. Resolutely stop investigating the views that are responsible for this outbreak, while firmly refusing to acknowledge the action of the whistleblower, or the fact that the system and decision-makers are incompetent! But this type of propaganda to hush a scandal will probably only deceive those who are willing to be deceived, it can’t work on those who believe in truth and facts. […] The reality shown by this epidemic is that the Party defends its own interests, the government officials defend their own interests, and the monarch only defends the status and interests of the core. Precisely this type of system is capable of a situation where only the ruler’s order is obeyed with no regard for the people. When the epidemic had already broken out, they wouldn’t dare admit it to the public without the king’s command. They wouldn’t dare announce the facts of the matter, and instead used the method of catching and criticizing “rumors” to restrict the spread of truth, resulting in the disease’s uncontainable spread. […] China’s ruling party concealed the cause of the outbreak, then using the power of the entire country, followed up by sealing a city, deceiving the trust of the WHO, and winning international praise. But, it was harder to again deceive the Chinese people caught in the epidemic. Those who live in a democratic country with freedom of speech perhaps don’t know the pain of the lack of a free press and free expression. But Chinese people know that this epidemic and all the unnecessary suffering it brought came directly from a system that strictly prohibits the freedom of press and speech. No matter how many shortcomings exist in China’s system of administration, if there was freedom of speech, citizens would take active measures to protect themselves. If they new the truth up front, it would prevent such a massive loss of control and spread. For example, Li Wenliang’s WeChat warning family and friends to take precautions against the spread of the epidemic was considered a “rumor”! If this were not taken to be a rumor, and instead turned into a government announcement to society, then what need would there have been for the January 7 instructions and all that came after? Maybe simply trusting the people with freedom of speech could have already achieved a great victory in preventing and managing this epidemic, and there wouldn’t be such a huge price to pay! No matter what you go out bragging about the Party leader and his “personal command” [of the outbreak and response, as Xi assured the WHO’s director general on January 28], it’s impossible to explain the January 1 CCTV broadcast on the capturing of “rumors,” nor can it alter the whole of society’s investigation into the responsibility behind this outbreak. Maybe not today, but at some point, the responsible parties’ debt to the people must be repaid! I was unable to cheer for the February 23 speech, because in it I saw a bigger crisis, one that ferments even faster in [the context of] that speech and the cheers it won. When shameless and ignorant people attempt to resign themselves to the stupidity of the great leader, society becomes a mob that is hard to develop and sustain. […]

The data for Corona Virus for different countries varies and they are not the same. Some countries are actively testing their people to check for the virus while some countries are doing a very poor job by not testing their people. Lots of countries are also trying their level best to hide their Coronavirus cases. This is really not helping to combat the Coronavirus itself.

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/thousands-of-muslim-pilgrims-ignore-virus-risk-to-gather-in-indonesia A shocking thing revealed in the news based on the link given above. Indonesia has only done 1,255 tests up till today, This is too little as Indonesia is the second largest country in the world. Wow amazing. By Wednesday, Indonesia's tally of infections stood at 227, with 19 deaths. The nation of 260 million had run just 1,255 tests by Tuesday. By contrast, South Korea, with a population of a fifth that size, is doing more than 15,000 tests a day.

Now even the person in charge of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics is infected with Corona Virus. He most probably contracted the virus when he is in US or UK as he has visited these 2 countries prior to Tokyo 2020 Olympics. With the person in charge of the Olympics being infected with Corona Virus it will put even more danger if the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will proceed as usual. Like it or not we might have to accept the fact that the Tokyo 2020 Olympics might have to be postponed.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8121267/Japan-Olympic-Committees-deputy-chief-tests-positive-coronavirus.html Japan Olympic Committee's deputy chief tests positive for coronavirus following nine-day trip to Europe and America as doubts increase on whether Tokyo 2020 can go ahead The deputy head of Japan's Olympic Committee has tested positive for coronavirus, he revealed today. Kozo Tashima announced he had a 'mild fever' and a 'symptom of pneumonia' but was feeling 'fine' and would 'concentrate on treatment'. Tashima had recently returned from a nine-day business trip in which he travelled to Northern Ireland, Holland and the United States - saying 'everyone was still doing hugs and handshakes' at the time. The news comes amid growing doubts over whether the Tokyo 2020 Games can go ahead at all because of the growing pandemic. 'Today, my test result showed positive for the new coronavirus,' Tashima said in a statement, issued via the Japan Football Association which he also heads. 'I have a mild fever. Examinations showed a symptom of pneumonia, but I'm fine. I will concentrate on treatment following doctors' advice,' he said. Tashima said he had been on a business trip since February 28, first heading to Belfast to attend a meeting of the International Football Association Board (IFAB). From March 2, he visited Amsterdam for a UEFA meeting to give a presentation on Japan's bid for the 2023 women's World Cup. And on March 3, he attended a general meeting of the same body. 'In Amsterdam and in Europe in early March, the level of nervousness against the novel coronavirus was not the same as now,' he said in the statement. 'Everyone was still doing hugs, handshakes and bises (cheek kissing).' He then travelled to the United States to watch the Japanese women's team in action and to lobby for the women's World Cup, before returning home on March 8. 'In the United States, too, the sense of crisis about the novel coronavirus was not as serious as now,' he said. Staff at the Japan FA have been working from home as a precaution against the virus, but Tashima said he went to the association building several times last week and attended meetings. He began feeling chills and experienced a mild fever from Sunday. He went to a local public health centre on Monday and told them about his travel history. During the UEFA gatherings, Tashima said he saw Swiss and Serbian football chiefs, who have tested positive for the virus, although he added it was not clear how he contracted the infection. His positive test came out on Tuesday. 'I have chosen to face the illness as so many people are doing in Japan and around the world,' he said, adding that he hoped his decision would help eradicate the stigma attached to the infection. Japanese officials are insistent that the Olympics will go ahead as planned with an opening ceremony on July 24. International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach also wants to go ahead but says the body will follow WHO guidelines. The Tokyo 2020 organising committee has already been forced to scale down festivities related to the Olympic torch relay to prevent further spread of the virus. The flame, which has already been lit in Greece, will arrive in northern Japan on Friday, with the torch relay slated to start on March 26 from Fukushima. Most major sporting events have been called off because of the virus, including football's Premier League, golf's Masters and motor racing's Formula One season.

Hope this vaccine will be good enough to cure Corona Virus.

Yes you are right.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/01/asia/china-coronavirus-truth-rumors-intl-hnk/index.html Coronavirus disinformation creates challenges for China's government Hong Kong (CNN)The word "rumor" has taken on a different meaning in China since the death of Li Wenliang, the doctor who was punished for trying to warn others about the spread of coronavirus. Instead of doubtful hearsay, for many the word has come to suggest the inconvenient truths that authorities are trying to hide -- just like Li's attempt to expose a dangerous outbreak that has to date claimed more than 2,900 lives, including his own. "Rumor is just a prophecy far ahead of our times," says a quote widely shared online in China in recent weeks. The idea speaks to the mounting anger among many Chinese people over what they see as heavy-handed government censorship, with unpleasant truths written off as "rumors" and truth tellers threatened or faced with punishment. On Chinese social media platforms, authorities have paid a price for silencing the truth. In many posts, if the warnings of Li and other medical workers had not been muzzled, they could have raised more awareness among the public and perhaps better prepared them for the deadly outbreak, which has now sickened over 84,000 people and placed hundreds of millions under varying forms of lockdown. But the overwhelming narrative on social media is that concealing the truth has caused another problem. Amid dwindling public trust, authorities are finding it increasingly difficult to combat potentially harmful disinformation. Doctor Li Wenliang, who was punished by police for "rumor-mongering," was hailed as a hero by many in China for trying to blow the whistle on the coronavirus outbreak in late December. Struggling with disinformation Almost as soon as the outbreak spiraled into a public health crisis in late January, a dubious fringe theory started to spread: that the virus did not come from nature, but was man-made in a lab. The conspiracy has been widely dismissed by scientists in China and the West, who point to research indicating that the virus is likely to have originated in bats and jumped to humans from an intermediate host -- just like its cousin that caused the SARS epidemic. The scientific findings, however, did not prevent the rumor mill from spinning, nor did the repeated attempts by authorities to stamp out the wholly groundless accusations. As the virus continued to spread and kill, conspiracy theories became more elaborate, with many pointing to a high-level virology lab known to study bat coronaviruses in Wuhan, the ground-zero of the outbreak. The Wuhan Institute of Virology, an affiliate of the central government-run Chinese Academy of Sciences, runs the only lab on the Chinese mainland equipped for the highest level of biocontainment to research easily transmitted pathogens, such as coronaviruses. The common gist of various rumors lies with the suspicion that the novel coronavirus might have escaped from the lab. In one version, a researcher was bitten by the bat he was studying and became infected with the virus; in another version, a graduate student at the institute was the "patient zero"; in an even more outlandish theory, that has since been popularized overseas, the lab was covertly working for the Chinese military to make bioweapons, and the virus was unwittingly leaked in the process. No credible evidence was offered for the theories, which originated from unverified social media accounts. The rumors were so rife in China that a lead virologist on bat-related viruses at the lab took to social media on February 2 to declare that she "guaranteed with her own life" that the facility had nothing to do with the outbreak. But that too failed to quell the rumors. The institute followed up by issuing a statement two weeks later to denounce the accusations. But still suspicions persisted. Four days later, the facility issued yet another all-encompassing statement that listed and rebutted all the rumors that had swirled around the lab in one sweep. The rumors, which continue to proliferate, have since drawn the rebuke of scientists around the world. "We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin," wrote 27 prominent public health scientists in a joint statement published in the medical journal The Lancet on February 19. Citing studies of the virus' genetic makeup, they said scientific findings "overwhelmingly conclude that this coronavirus originated in wildlife, as have so many other emerging pathogens." "Conspiracy theories do nothing but create fear, rumors, and prejudice that jeopardize our global collaboration in the fight against this virus," the scientists wrote. Nevertheless, some in China remained unconvinced, posting on Weibo that they suspected a government cover-up. Separately, another unfounded theory taking aim at the US has gained traction among groups of Chinese nationalists. Last month, a man in Inner Mongolia was detained for 10 days and fined 500 yuan ($71) for spreading the rumor that the coronavirus is a genetic weapon made by the US government. His detention was broadcast on state-run television, making it clear how rumormongers like him would be treated. But many remain undeterred, seeing his arrest as further proof of an alleged cover-up, while continuing to share and discuss the rumor online. Another new, unfounded variation claims the coronavirus is not a man-made bioweapon, but did originate in the US -- and many Americans thought to have died of the flu this season were actually killed by COVID-19. "What is the truth?" While diehard conspiracy theorists can be found in every country, it's clear from social media that the plunge in public trust in the Chinese government following its alleged mishandling and censorship of the outbreak has made it much harder for authorities there to dispel rumors. "What is the truth?" wondered a user on Weibo on February 17, commenting on the Wuhan lab's attempt to end the rumors. "The collapse of credibility of the government and the media is not only a woe for them, but also for us citizens." The erosion of trust is centered around cases such as Li, the Wuhan doctor, where so-called "rumors" were later deemed to be inconvenient truths authorities wanted to suppress. Li was summoned by the Wuhan police on January 3 and reprimanded for "spreading rumors," over a message he sent to his medical school alumni warning of the emergence of a SARS-like coronavirus. He later contracted the virus from a patient and died last month. And Li was not alone. On January 1, Wuhan police announced they had "taken legal measures" against eight people for spreading rumors about the coronavirus. Chinese media later reported that some of them were also healthcare workers trying to sound the alarm, and several of them have come forward in the Chinese press to recount how they got into trouble for trying to warn colleagues and friends about the outbreak. That deep-rooted frustration was summed up in a poignant joke that made the rounds on social media in late January, when the outbreak seemed to be spiraling out of control: "If someone can go back in time to return to the Wuhan of a month ago, can they save us all from this catastrophe?" "Nope," the answer goes. "They would just become the ninth rumor-monger." To the dismay and fury of many in China, the swift rebuttal of well-meaning "rumors" -- or in fact unpleasant truths -- did not stop with Li's death. The whistle-blower's passing set off a remarkable storm of calls for free speech across the country. In response, the government has doubled down on its attempts to control the narrative. Accounts and reports that fall outside the official line are promptly scrubbed from the internet and replaced with a constant flow of heroic tales of self-sacrifice. Independent voices describing the grim reality on the ground, meanwhile, have been silenced. Chen Qiushi, a citizen journalist who documented the agony and heartbreak of residents in Wuhan, was forcefully quarantined by authorities last month, according to his friends. Meanwhile, some propaganda attempts have backfired. In northwestern Gansu province, a state-run newspaper recently published a video of female medical workers having their heads shaved before setting off to join the front lines in Hubei, with some crying in front of the camera. The video, meant to show their admirable devotion, drew backlash online, with many questioning its necessity and whether the medics were pressured into shaving. To be honest, it would be better if they don't dispel rumors. When I see a rumor refuted I would basically assume it is the truth. A user on Weibo Over the past few weeks, Chinese social media has been alight with outrage at the propaganda and censorship, with the censors themselves having to work overtime to stay on top of it. "To be honest, it would be better if they don't dispel rumors. When I see a rumor refuted I would basically assume it is the truth," said one popular Weibo comment, that itself was later censored.

Now things worsen with China side accusing America for spearing the Corona virus to China. I find this as rather absurd and horrible. Why will America want to spread such a deadly virus to China? What benefits will they get? Instead of solving the problem the China government is now trying to push the blame to America.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/mar/15/coronavirus-lies-pushed-china-blame-virus-us-biowe/ EXCLUSIVE China, Russia and Iran are flooding the global information space with false claims about the new coronavirus, according to U.S. officials, who say one of the biggest lies — that the virus that causes COVID-19 is a U.S. bioweapon and was brought to China by U.S. Army personnel — is just the latest in a “surge of propaganda” aimed at undermining America’s image on the world stage. Beijing, Moscow and Tehran are using a vast web of social media accounts, fake news outlets and state-controlled global satellite media to promote false claims by academics and, at times, government officials to blame Washington for the crisis now gripping most of humanity. The head of a key State Department counterdisinformation office said U.S. officials are ramping up their own efforts to counter lies about the new coronavirus that were first seeded by Russia in January and that China is now pushing in a bid to make Beijing appear as a superior global power to the United States. U.S. Special Envoy Lea Gabrielle, who leads the department’s Global Engagement Center, told The Washington Times on Sunday that the Chinese are “engaged in an all-out aggressive campaign to try to reshape the global narrative around the coronavirus, essentially to the degree of trying to provide an alternate reality of what has actually happened since December.” Ms. Gabrielle made the assertion in an exclusive interview amid a widening row between Washington and Beijing that burst into public view last week when the spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry suggested on Twitter that the U.S. military might have brought the coronavirus to the Chinese city of Wuhan. Teams of international scientists, including several from inside China, have agreed for more than a month that the virus came from a “wet market” in Wuhan — where fish, poultry and other animals are slaughtered on the premises — and that any other claims about the virus’ origins are bogus. But Ms. Gabrielle and other U.S. officials say that has not stopped three of the world’s top purveyors of state-sponsored propaganda, led by China, from pouncing in a moment of global panic to try to sully America’s image. “Two narrative tracks that we’re seeing advanced by China is malign information trying to finger the U.S. as the origin of the coronavirus, and then the second narrative track is what we call ‘Brand China,’ which is the [Chinese government’s] effort to try and turn the crisis into a news story about the supremacy of the Chinese Communist Party as opposed to democratic systems that have allegedly mishandled the crisis,” Ms. Gabrielle told The Times. “So [it’s] basically a ‘China good, everyone else bad’ narrative.” “We’ve seen China mobilize its global messaging apparatus, and this includes state media, Chinese diplomats writing articles in local or overseas media to basically push out the overall narrative that depicts China as the world’s model and global leader under the Chinese Communist Party,” she said. “This has caused us to have to react with a full-spectrum activation of our own public messaging and diplomatic engagement, and really just having to push access to fact-based information by our own communicators so they’re able to counter these false narratives with local audiences.” The Global Engagement Center is spearheading the effort, with a goal of reminding audiences that authoritarian regimes clamp down on the free flow of truthful information and use government-controlled organs to spread lies. Inside the U.S. response It’s anything but easy. The risk is always there that U.S.-government information operations can backfire and draw accusations of using propaganda. There is also concern that drawing attention to false narratives might serve to promote those lies. “Once a false narrative is out there, it’s almost impossible to undo, and repeating that false narrative when trying to correct it reinforces it,” said Ms. Gabrielle. “So it makes it very tricky.” The Global Engagement Center operates mainly behind the scenes at the State Department, which does not publicize the number of people working inside the center. It grew in recent years from the now-dissolved Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications. In the Obama-era, the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications was a hub through which U.S. officials used Facebook and Twitter to disseminate anti-jihadi messaging worldwide. Then came the 2016 U.S. elections. American intelligence findings that Russia used social media to meddle in U.S. democracy prompted Congress to reconstitute the Global Engagement Center with a broader mission: to expose and counter foreign state and nonstate propaganda aimed at undermining the U.S. and its allies around the world. A core tenet was the establishment of an “Information Access Fund,” a mechanism that can be used to channel funding to outside organizations that engage in a range of counterdisinformation efforts in several countries. By 2018, U.S. officials were comparing the Global Engagement Center’s mission to that of a Cold War-era initiative pushed by the Reagan administration, the Active Measures Working Group. U.S. officials used the operation to expose and undermine Soviet propaganda and subversion in Europe. The circle of lies On the novel coronavirus, the Global Engagement Center’s radar went up in January around a Russian government-backed effort to “seed the disinformation space with the notion that the virus was created by Americans,” Ms. Gabrielle said. The center, she added, discovered a “Kremlin-sponsored” push to spread lies that the virus was created either by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation or in a U.S. government lab. U.S. officials responded by circulating information showing how the lies began with Russian officials and were promoted in a coordinated effort via Russian state-sponsored social media accounts and Russian government-owned global media such as Sputnik and RT, as well as through swarms of fake personas online and conspiracy websites pretending to be news outlets. Some international media initially ran big with the information, but the Chinese and Iranians have doubled down with their own disinformation campaigns built from the original claims seeded by the Russians, Ms. Gabrielle said. “We’ve tracked a surge in their disinformation and propaganda operations, and they’re picking up and promoting what were originally false claims pushed by the Kremlin,” she said. “They are mutually reinforcing each other in efforts to flood the information space with false narratives. So it’s basically a convergence of Russian, Chinese and Iranian disinformation operations.” The Russians have also ramped up their efforts, with RT promoting false claims by military commanders from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps about the origins of the coronavirus based on Russia’s earlier disinformation campaign. “So Russia pushes out a false narrative, the IRGC then parrots that narrative, then RT tweets it out as though it came from the IRGC chief in the first place,” Ms. Gabrielle said. “Another example we’ve seen is the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, who used Twitter to highlight a false narrative from a source that’s already been identified as a supporter of Russia’s disinformation ecosystem.” Mr. Zhao tweeted Thursday in English that it “might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan” and that the “US owe us an explanation!” He also promoted the “Centre for Research on Globalization” or “GlobalResearch.ca,” a discredited Canada-based operation that published an article under the headline “Further Evidence That the Virus Originated in the U.S.” U.S. officials were outraged by the tweet. “GlobalResearch.ca is a disinformation outlet based in Canada that we’ve seen pushing out Kremlin narratives,” said Ms. Gabrielle, who added that disinformation promotion by Russia, Iran and China converged before the coronavirus outbreak but has now taken on expanded momentum. Murky waters ahead The Zhao episode has added tension to an already fraught U.S.-Chinese relationship. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman’s tweet may have been a response to comments last week by National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, who chastised Beijing for initially covering up the coronavirus outbreak. He said the cover-up “probably cost the world community two months.” The Zhao tweet may also have been an attempt to subversively respond to President Trump’s assertion Wednesday that COVID-19 is caused by a “foreign virus” and “we all know where it came from.” Either way, the administration’s response to Mr. Zhao was swift. Chinese Ambassador to Washington Cui Tiankai was summoned Friday to the State Department, where David R. Stillwell, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, expressed strong disappointment with the Chinese disinformation. A senior U.S. official told The Times on background that the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman’s tweet “was a tipping point for us at a very senior level within the State Department [and] we decided we’re not going to let this continue further.” The official said U.S. officials decided to draw a “line in the sand.” “We are going to make a concerted and public effort to counter disinformation by any regime on this because there are lasting consequences. The Chinese and Russians and Iranians are putting out these conspiracy theories and false narratives. It is deeply irresponsible, not just for America, but for the world. We’re in the middle of a global pandemic that is unprecedented. The fact that these regimes are taking the time to deflect blame from their own actions is deeply irresponsible.” The question is whether the damage has been done. “Once a lie is out there in the information space, there’s no silver bullet. I don’t have a false-information-zapping bazooka. I wish I did,” said Ms. Gabrielle. “What we do have are best practices and, in the case of the lies that are out there right now, that means engaging through our official platforms to counter them.” She stressed that the Global Engagement Center is playing “the long game,” and that means engaging credible voices that can support truthful narratives worldwide. What you want to do is essentially create an environment where populations and audiences are less vulnerable to disinformation in general,” Ms. Gabrielle said. “Best practices for countering false narratives long term are more strategic in nature.” “We’ve also supported things like the development of secure networks for investigative journalists in sensitive environments to help enable them to share information,” she said. Exposing previous examples of disinformation by questionable sources, she said, is part of the effort to “flood the space” with accurate information. That, she said, can involve “engaging third-party credible voices, for example, non-U.S. government voices to be able to get the truth out there.” Third-party voices can include fact-checking organizations, nongovernment organizations, investigative journalists, other governments, local community leaders or social media influencers, she said. “We work with organizations worldwide to do that long-term approach of increasing resiliency, decreasing vulnerability and then inoculating audiences to disinformation.”

What we are seeing now is those fake news and fake data. A lot of countries such as China have decided to cover up cases and cover up deaths of their onw citizens. Well what we are seeing is the dwindling cases in China as if the Corona virus patient have reduced a lot in China. Actual fact is it is not. The cover up has gotten quite serious. People who tried to tell the truth and expose the true facts have been caught and detained in prisons. This is really not helping to combat the Corona virus. The last thing we ever want is a lying politician up there who always try his level best to portray his country is the best in the whole world when the actual fact it is not.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/09/truth-coronavirus-china-trump-pence/ As the coronavirus spreads, another dangerous virus has followed closely behind: the scourge of government leaders and official authorities obfuscating data, suppressing information, and misinforming citizens about the outbreak. With the crisis likely to get worse before it gets better, many countries’ citizens are increasingly unsure just whom or what to believe. This not only increases the threat to public health, but it also undermines trust in the very institutions on which we rely to fight the virus. This new virus of disinformation also has its origin in China, has spread to other authoritarian states such as Iran and Russia, and has now infected the highest levels of government in the United States. The disease of disinformation first broke out in Wuhan. Its most prominent victim is a Wuhan doctor, Li Wenliang, who first posted an alert about a mysterious illness to a group chat of medical colleagues in late December. Accused of spreading rumors, he was summoned by health authorities in the middle of the night and forced to confess to making “false comments.” His warning went unheeded, and by early February he was dead from the virus. As the epidemic began to take hold, Wuhan became a jarring tale of two different stories: a sanitized, government-approved version of events—and a very different reality on the ground. Private citizens posted cellphone videos as the quarantine was being imposed through brute force: neighbors and passersby being dragged kicking and screaming down corridors and into vans, or of workers hammering boards over the doors of apartment buildings. Meanwhile, state-controlled media posted a steady stream of cheery snippets showing what were allegedly virus patients, dancing beside their hospital beds, and happy health care workers shaving their hair to promote hygiene. It got worse from there. At least three Chinese citizen journalists reporting on the virus have disappeared into detention, their whereabouts unknown. One, a former Chinese government television journalist, filmed his own arrest; his video has now been seen by more than 375,000 viewers on YouTube (though likely censored inside China). After criticizing Chinese President Xi Jinping’s response to the virus, the essayist and activist Xu Zhiyong is being held in secret detention and faces a potential 15-year prison sentence for “subversion.” China and Iran stand out for muzzling doctors who tried to warn about the coronavirus, and for downplaying the number of cases and deaths as the epidemic progressed. After several panicky weeks of lying low, Chinese President Xi Jinping has mounted a propaganda offensive aimed at burnishing China’s image to both an increasingly angry populace and a skeptical world. Widely criticized for delaying and dissembling, Xi is aggressively pushing a counternarrative that touts his handling of the virus as exemplary and a testament to the virtues of the authoritarian system. Many in the West have fallen for this narrative, Xi will be happy to know. Despite still-rising numbers of cases and drastic lockdowns still in place, Xi’s government is already planning to publish a book, translated from Mandarin into five languages, that trumpets his victory over the virus. Shameless puffery coupled with ruthless suppression of dissent is nothing new in China. Nor is it any surprise that Iran, the worst-hit country outside East Asia, has its own government’s suppression of information to blame for a rapid spread of the virus. The BBC reports that 24 Iranians have been arrested for “spreading rumors” while another 118 have received warnings. For reporting on the health crisis in Iran based on sources in the country’s hospitals, Tehran has accused the BBC of spreading falsehoods. With no reliable information to be had, Iranian social media and messaging apps are rife with false information, as well as genuine leaks aimed to counter misleading government narratives. China and Iran stand out for muzzling doctors who tried to warn about the coronavirus, downplaying the number of cases and deaths as the epidemic progressed, and inflating the success of their containment efforts. The predictable result was that the virus spread more quickly and widely than if these governments had been forthright from the start. Russia, whose government has weaponized disinformation at home and abroad, is up to its usual antics of spreading conspiracy theories about the origin of the virus (no, coronavirus was not bioengineered by the CIA). That authoritarian states would engage in such practices is not exactly surprising. What’s new and deeply disturbing is that the virus of disinformation has infected the highest levels of a Western government like the United States’.What’s new and deeply disturbing is that the virus of disinformation has infected the highest levels of a Western government like the United States’. U.S. President Donald Trump’s public downplaying of the outbreak—and his administration’s muzzling of scientists, attacks on journalists, and lashing out at critics—have slowed and obstructed the U.S. response to the coronavirus, and risk undermining efforts to control the virus as it spreads. What’s more, the administration’s actions risk fatally undermining citizens’ trust in public health authorities, scientists, and doctors—the very people on whose information and judgment any effective epidemic response depends. As the first cases of the coronavirus showed up in the United States and Americans were thirsting for information, the administration treated legitimate questions about the country’s public health response as personal or partisan attacks. Mick Mulvaney, then the acting White House chief of staff, accused the media of reporting on the virus in order to attack Trump. “The reason you’re seeing so much attention to [the coronavirus] today is that they think this is going to be the thing that brings down the president,” Mulvaney told a conservative conference audience. “That’s what this is all about.” More frighteningly, Trump is using the language of conspiracy theories to discredit criticism of his handling of the outbreak, claiming the coronavirus is the Democrats’ “new hoax.”

In the news that I have pointed out to you earlier, it is written that Marcus Ellis / Lauren Smith are both seen coughing during their matches so they are suspected of being contracted with Coronavirus. What you said is true as well. Lets not jump into such conclusion. Coughing during physical activities I guess is normal.

England XD Macus Ellis / Lauren Smith is also seen coughing while playing their XD matches. So both of them also being put in the list of suspected to be infected with Coronavirus next. Wow.

太危险了！全英赛现场发现三名观众疑似新冠病毒症状 I got the news from here. I don't know Mandarin myself. So I use google translate and then it translated as 3 spectators in the All England stadium suspected of having Coronavirus.

I do not have the proos to post it hear. It is just hearsay from somewhere.

Now Birmingham whereby the All England tournament is being held even have coronavirus patient who have died there. So in this case how come the All England tournament is held as usual? ISn't it very dangerous? https://www.expressandstar.com/news/health/2020/03/14/wolverhampton-and-birmingham-coronavirus-patients-die-as-uk-death-toll-doubles/ Wolverhampton and Birmingham coronavirus patients die as UK death toll doubles Patients in Wolverhampton and Birmingham are among the 10 latest coronavirus deaths to be confirmed as the UK death toll rose to 21. All 10 were over 60 and had underlying health conditions, NHS England said. The local patients who died were men aged in their 80s and were being treated at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton and City Hospital in Birmingham. It means four coronavirus patients have died in the Black Country and Birmingham: Two in Wolverhampton, one in Dudley and one in Birmingham. Meanwhile the first case of coronavirus in the Sandwell borough has been confirmed as the number of confirmed cases in the UK rose from 798 on Friday to 1,140 on Saturday. Coronavirus updates: Elderly men from Wolverhampton and Birmingham are among 10 new coronavirus deaths confirmed today. Out of 21 UK deaths, four have been in the Black Country and Birmingham. The UK death toll has risen from 11 to 21 in one day, while the number of confirmed cases has risen from 798 to 1,140. Sandwell's first Covid-19 diagnosed was confirmed today. Visits are being restricted at many hospitals across the Black Country and Staffordshire. UK is set to ban mass gatherings after criticism of the Government. Donald Trump has said the UK could be added to the list of European countries included in the US travel ban. The London Marathon, scheduled to take place on April 26, has been postponed until October 4. Premier League and Football League among long list of sporting tournaments put on hold. Apple has closed all of its stores outside China. Jet2 has cancelled all flights to Spain, where the death toll has reached 120. Professor Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, said: "I am sorry to confirm 10 further patients who have tested positive for Covid-19 in England have died. "All 10 individuals were in the at risk groups. I understand this increase in the number of deaths linked to Covid-19 will be a cause for concern for many. "The public should know every measure we are taking is seeking to save lives and protect the most vulnerable. "Every single one of us has a role to play in achieving this. If you have a new continuous cough or high temperature, please stay at home for seven days. "I also encourage everyone to be washing their hands for 20 seconds regularly. "I offer my sincere condolences to the families and friends who have received this difficult news. I ask that their privacy is respected at this time." A Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust spokesperson said: "Sadly, we can confirm that a man who was being cared for at New Cross Hospital, and had tested positive for COVID-19, has died. "The patient, was in his 80s and had underlying health conditions. "His family has been informed and our thoughts and condolences are with them at this difficult and distressing time. "The media are asked to respect the wishes of the families, and the interests of staff at the hospital to avoid any disruption to operational services." A Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust spokesperson said: "Sadly, we can confirm that a man who was being cared for at City Hospital, and had tested positive for COVID-19, has died. "The patient, was in his mid 80s and had underlying health conditions. "His family have been informed and our thoughts and condolences are with them at this difficult and distressing time." Sandwell and Walsall cases confirmed Sandwell's first case of coronavirus was confirmed on Saturday, meaning every borough in the Black Country now has diagnosed patients after Walsall's first two cases were confirmed on Friday. Lisa McNally, Director of Public Health for Sandwell, said: “I’d like to reassure people that we are working with health partners at a regional and national level to do everything we can to stop the virus spreading and ensure the people of Sandwell are protected. “It's really important that everyone follows the latest guidance announced on Thursday about staying at home if you show even the slightest symptoms of coronavirus. "For most people who get coronavirus, it will be a mild infection, but we all have a role to play in protecting the most vulnerable people in society. “Good hygiene is the best prevention and there are some simple steps you can take to protect you and your family by washing your hands regularly and thoroughly using soap and water for at least 20 seconds at a time and, if you cough, to cover your mouth and nose with a tissue and dispose of it immediately.” It comes as plans get under way to ban mass gatherings from next week as the Government looks to implement more extreme measures in the fight against Covid-19. Emergency measures Boris Johnson had faced criticism for not taking such actions, despite similar steps being taken by other European countries as the pandemic worsens. Emergency legislation bringing in beefed-up powers will be published next week and there could also be a move towards more people working from home, a Whitehall source said. Meanwhile, a newborn baby in England who has tested positive for coronavirus is likely to be one of the world’s youngest patients with the disease. The infant and its mother both tested positive at a north London hospital and staff who had contact with the pair have been advised to self-isolate. Care minister Helen Whately said the evidence was that children were less at risk compared to older people or those with underlying health conditions. “But my thoughts are completely with the family of the baby because it must be truly really worrying when you have a newborn baby that’s ill,” she told ITV News.