Coronavirus
The contagion gripping the world
As the WHO warns the coronavirus is reaching a dangerous tipping point, watch the most up to date and comprehensive account of the extraordinary chain of events that have left the world on the edge of a pandemic.
With inside footage of China's quarantined cities, and of the top security lab where scientists are battling the pathogen, this report has unprecedented access to the residents, doctors, and journalists describing how the coronavirus originated in a Wuhan seafood market and spread around the world. As evidence emerges that Chinese doctors warned of the virus in December, many are blaming the Chinese authorities of putting politics above people's lives. "That's the key point in this saga. They lost about two weeks, maybe three weeks. But that was lost because it got caught up in the politics of the information flow and information surveillance in China", says Richard McGregor of the Lowy Institute. As China began to act, it was too late - the virus was halfway around the world. Scientist Trevor Drew, whose team isolated the virus, says we still know little about how to stop it: "We don't actually know how dangerous this is. We don't know exactly what the mechanism is by which this virus kills people". Back in China, foreign residents are struggling to get out. "I'm absolutely f***ing petrified now... it's beyond quarantine", says one stranded traveller.
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