Confirmed Cases in Hubei Revised from 349 to 775 on the 19th
"Harder Than Math, Not Sure Whether to Believe It"
A patient infected with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in China was discharged after being declared fully recovered at a hospital in Wuhan, Hubei Province on the 18th, expressing gratitude to the medical staff. China's novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) statistics criteria have been changed three times within a week, causing increasing confusion within the country.
According to the state-run Xinhua News Agency on the 22nd, Hubei Province authorities announced at a press conference the previous day that they would restore the statistical figures from the 19th by excluding cases that were clinically diagnosed but tested negative upon re-examination.
Accordingly, the number of confirmed cases in Hubei on the 19th was revised from 349 to 775, with an additional 426 cases added.
Clinically diagnosed cases refer to patients included as confirmed cases based on clinical symptoms and lung computed tomography (CT) results, even if the nucleic acid test did not yield a positive result.
Earlier, on the 12th, Chinese authorities included the clinical diagnosis criteria only for Hubei Province in the "5th Edition of COVID-19 Treatment Plan," which caused the number of new confirmed cases nationwide to surge by nearly 15,000 in a single day, including clinically diagnosed cases.
Subsequently, on the 19th, the patient criteria were changed again to exclude clinically diagnosed cases from the confirmed patient count, causing the number to drop below 1,000. However, as confusion intensified due to the successive changes in statistical criteria and public criticism grew, Hubei Province reverted to the original criteria.
Hubei authorities reinstated clinically diagnosed cases as confirmed cases and revised the cumulative patient count up to the 20th from 62,662 to 60,388.
Under public pressure, Hubei Province effectively changed the statistical figures three times within a week since the 13th.
So far, changes to China's COVID-19 statistical criteria have been made impulsively, mindful of public criticism.
The first change on the 12th added the "clinically diagnosed case" criterion in Hubei Province, responding to public opinion that the reported confirmed and death counts did not reflect the actual situation.
When the spread, which had been stabilizing, surged again due to the changed criteria, Hubei?the province with the highest number of patients?suddenly decided on the 19th, based on the "6th Edition of COVID-19 Treatment Plan," to exclude clinically diagnosed cases who tested negative upon re-examination from the statistics.
As intended by Hubei authorities, the patient count dropped sharply to 349 on the 19th, but the repeated changes in statistical criteria caused confusion and worsened public opinion.
Consequently, Hubei decided not to apply the "adjustment of confirmed patient numbers based on re-examination of existing clinically diagnosed cases" criterion, responding to the deteriorating public sentiment.
Chinese netizens expressed distrust in the health authorities' figures, saying things like, "The statistics change every time, so I don't know which to believe," and "COVID-19 statistics are much harder than math problems."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
