Trapped in the Matrix: Whistle-blowers and residents claim China’s coronavirus recovery is ‘all fake’

China’s claims of how it’s handling coronavirus recovery should be taken with more than a few grains of salt. Even before COVID-19 became a global crisis, Chinese leaders had been criticized for their handling of the situation and lack of transparency about the disease’s progression. Things now look like they’re on the upswing, and businesses even appear to be headed back to work — but whistle-blowers and local officials tell Caixan that’s just a carefully crafted ruse. Beijing has spent much of the outbreak pushing districts to carry on business as usual, with some local governments subsidizing electricity costs and even installing mandatory productivity quotas. Zhejiang, a province east of the epicenter city of Wuhan, claimed as of Feb. 24 it had restored 98.6 percent of its pre-coronavirus work capacity.

But civil servants tell Caixan that businesses are actually faking these numbers. Beijing had started checking Zhejiang businesses’ electricity consumption levels, so district officials ordered the companies to start leaving their lights and machinery on all day to drive the numbers up, one civil servant said. Businesses have reportedly falsified staff attendance logs as well — they “would rather waste a small amount of money on power than irritate local officials,” Caixan writes. In Wuhan, officials have tried to make it appear that recovery efforts are going smoothly. But when “central leaders” personally survey disinfecting regimens and food delivery, local officials
“make a special effort” for them and them alone, one resident told Caixan. And in a video circulating on social media, residents can be seen shouting at visiting leaders from the apartments where they’re being quarantined — Fake, it’s all fake.”  –The Week

A hotel in China that is being utilized to quarantine coronavirus patients collapsed on Saturday, leaving around 70 people trapped beneath the rubble. The five-story, 80-room Xinjia Hotel is located in Quanzhou, in the southeastern Fujian Province, Reuters reported based on information from the city’s government officials. It remains unclear what caused the collapse and how many people — who either tested positive for COVID-19 or had come in contact with someone with coronavirus — were quarantined at the hotel, which opened in 2018, the People’s Daily, China reported.

The incident occurred around 7:30 p.m. local time. Since then, 38 people have been safely rescued, Quanzhou authorities told Reuters. The Xinhua News Agency reported that emergency personnel had been sent to the site. Videos from the scene showed people dressed in orange clambering over the fallen structure. A woman, who identified herself only as Chen, told the Beijing News that her sister was at the Xinjia Hotel. Her quarantine began on Feb. 25 after she returned from Hubei province, where the coronavirus originated late last year, Reuters said.

“I can’t contact them, they’re not answering their phones,” Chen said. “I’m under quarantine too and I’m very worried. I don’t know what to do. They were healthy, they took their temperatures every day, and the tests showed that everything was normal.” On Saturday evening, the hotel collapse was the top trending topic on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media platform, with people demanding an investigation into how the building fell down. Reuters reported that anger is mounting against Chinese authorities who are accused of mishandling the coronavirus outbreak when it was in its early stages, by preventing doctors from speaking out and misrepresenting the number of COVID-19 cases.  –Business Insider