Here's a good and long article on the origins of the coronavirus.
https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/a-failed-deception-the-early-days-of-the-coronavirus-outbreak-in-wuhan-a-70effc1e-0200-440f-bb62-07cda261de11Basically China's Patient Zero who worked at the fish market in Wuhan started becoming sick on Dec 20, checked into hospital Dec 26. Flu tests negative. CT scan showed bad pneumonia. Sample sent off to a Shanghai lab. Dec 30, SH lab confirmed it was a novel coronavirus. Same time frame, another Wuhan case involved a husband and wife with the same pneumonia and their son had it too but was asymptomatic.
Dec 30 two doctors alert friends and colleagues via social media app that there is a new coronavirus and to stay away from the fish market.
Dec 31, local officials acknowledge new coronavirus
Dec 31 Wuhan fish market is closed and cleaned by folks with hazmat suits.
Jan 1 Novel Coronavirus reported to WHO
So that's all pretty good.
But Wuhan and Hubei officials start covering up and delaying reporting infectious cases to Beijing.
And it's not until Jan 23 that Wuhan is locked down.
That's the 3 week period where China didn't react quickly and allowed the virus to proliferate.
the Der Spiegel article blames the local and provincial authorities for keeping Beijing in the dark for 2+ weeks. They have Beijing knowing what was really going on only on until Jan 18 -20 and locking down Jan 23.
I'm not sure if the provincial authorities are only to blame. They hid info of a possible epidemic from Beijing ... for what purpose? Usually you cover up so something won't get out, or to benefit from a delay. Well, the word was going to get out, and the delay wasn't going to be beneficial. So I don't see what their endgame was. If you handle an epidemic badly and hide it from Beijing , you'll be fired at best and might go to jail. If you pass on the (bad) news to Beijing, you become a cog in the chain of authority,the responsibility shifts up a level, and you're mostly off the hook.
I suspect when Beijing knew about the coronoavirus has been soft-pedaled to make Beijing look fairly responsible and heap the blame for 2.5 weeks of delay on Hubei.
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