Russian Satellite News Agency: (Wang Zhimin) Why do rumors about the new coronavirus spread faster than the virus itself?
(Source:Russian Satellite News Agency2020-02-06）
The topic of the new coronavirus has been firmly in the headlines of international media for more than a month, and various rumors, speculations and sensational predictions have continued to grow. Wang Zhimin, director of the Institute of Globalization and Chinese Modernization at the w88 casino in China and researcher at the National Institute of Opening-up, pointed out,"In fact, several epidemics that have occurred in the past have attracted the attention of the whole world. However, because this happened in China, there is more political bias. No matter how well done, bias will always exist."
Such rumors and scandal speculation may not necessarily have a strong effect, because many Western countries support China and its anti-epidemic measures. held in many countries including RussiaA flash mob event of "Come on, China!" The mayor of Florence, Italy, posted a photo with Chinese friends on Twitter amid overall anti-China sentiment, and many Italians followed suit. In France and Spain, Chinese students and Chinese living and working there posted photos with the hashtag "I am not a virus" to calm panic.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus last week urged not to panic over the 2019-nCov new coronavirus epidemic. He pointed out that the number of infected people outside China is not high.
Indeed, other countries rarely have more than a few dozen cases of COVID-19 infection. In addition, according to data from the Medical Policy Department of the Ministry of Health of China, the mortality rate of people infected with COVID-19 has gradually declined. From the beginning of the outbreak 2.3% case fatality rate has dropped to the current 2.1%. During the SARS virus outbreak, 10% of infected people died, and the case fatality rate of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was as high as 30%. The growth rate of suspected cases of new coronavirus pneumonia is also declining: 3,941 people suspected of being infected with the new coronavirus were sent to the hospital on February 4, 5,173 suspected cases were sent to the hospital on the 2nd, and 5,072 suspected cases were sent to the hospital on the 3rd.
Many experts also caution that tens of thousands of people die from influenza outbreaks in the United States each year. According to WHO data, influenza epidemics cause 3 to 5 million severe cases and 650,000 deaths worldwide every year.
New coronavirus topic reports did not cause panic in China. Infection statistics were updated in real time, and the construction site of Huoshenshan Hospital was broadcast live. People are observing all necessary precautions, staying home without any need, and disinfecting their homes.
However, the international media probably exaggerated the number of confirmed cases and deaths from the first day of the outbreak of the new coronavirus pneumonia, predicted a global disaster, and spread rumors about confirmed cases that did not exist in their own countries, trying to provoke it again"Conspiracy theory".
The following headline went viral: Study shows,"Coronavirus may be more contagious than current data" - US Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC); "You can never go home again", "Cities full of fear turn people into coronavirus refugees in their own countries" - US news website Quartz; "Coronavirus isolates China from the world" - "Wall Street Journal", etc.
Some Russian experts believe that one of the reasons for panic and rumors spreading in Western countries may be fear of economic losses. Wang Zhimin said that this is just a temporary economic pause caused by the epidemic:“From an international perspective, the contribution of China’s economic growth to world economic growth has remained at around 30% in recent years. According to data, if China's economic growth drops by one percentage point, the world economy will drop by about 0.3 percentage points, so the impact is definitely relatively large. At the same time, China has the most comprehensive product categories in the world. There are some things that other countries cannot produce, so production will definitely decrease due to the impact of the epidemic. Therefore, from various perspectives, China's economy plays a supporting role in the development of the world economy and should have a greater impact in a short period of time.”
As the global panic about the new coronavirus pneumonia intensifies, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly called on the international community to calm down. On February 4, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated that China opposes those international practices that overreact or even create panic.
Attachment: Original report link
http://sputniknews.cn/society/202002061030594789/
