“I agree it seems absurd. But in China, people who disseminate information like this put themselves in great personal jeopardy, up to and including death, because the charge is essentially espionage, for disclosure of state secrets, the penalty for which is death. So assuming she’s in Wuhan, the incentives are for her to understate the number. Whatever the accuracy of the number, I expect she believes it to be true.”
I don’t agree with your premise. Let’s assume the person on the video is really a nurse& is really in China. She could be overworked, stressed out, and exaggerating in order to draw attention to their need for help & supplies. There’s no doubt that the virus is making people sick. Seeing hospitals & health clinics ten times busier than normal & the clinics/hospitals running out of supplies would be frightening. If they had appealed to Beijing & weren’t getting a response, a person might feel that the only way they could get help would be to make a video & exaggerate so that the rest of the world puts pressure & helps them.
Or the video could be a hoax. Those are 2 other possibilities .
Those are 2 other possibilities .
Americans will just have to experience this for themselves to see what happens when hospitals, clinic etc are overwhelmed - we will know in a week or so when the incubation period ends for the returned