A makeshift memorial for Wuhan whistleblower doctor Li Wenliang at an entrance to the Central Hospital of Wuhan in Hubei province on February 7, 2020. Data and information on the new coronavirus in China released by the Chinese government is transparent and open, and there is no government meddling in data collection, a National Health Commission official said on Thursday. She said China set up an online reporting system concerning all infectious diseases after the SARS outbreak in 2003. At the early stage, when patient numbers grew very quickly, the local medical system was overwhelmed. Kang Seung-seok, the consul-general of the Republic of Korea in Wuhan, said that data released by governments all across the world should be trusted, including in China.

Source: The Standard April 17, 2020 06:00 UTC