Report from Beijing: numbers worse than official count, social media widely censored
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June 28 09:46:28, 2025
As the novel coronavirus continues to spread across China, I've found myself constantly checking my phone for updates. Many important posts and videos are taken down within hours, forcing people to take screenshots just to share them before they disappear—this is a way to bypass the growing censorship.
Both social media posts and mainstream news reports suggest that the actual number of confirmed cases is much higher than what's officially reported, especially in Wuhan and Hubei, which have been the hardest-hit regions. A firsthand report from a journalist at Caijing, covering a hospital in Wuhan designated to treat the virus, revealed that on February 1st and 2nd, around 120 patients with fever visited the outpatient clinic, and about 80 had lung infections—but only five of those were admitted to the hospital.
In another hospital, 600 patients in critical condition were being treated, but none were diagnosed with the new coronavirus due to a lack of test kits. The doctor interviewed couldn’t explain why the tests were unavailable, highlighting the severe shortage of medical resources.
Based on these numbers, it seems that only about 6% of infected individuals are reflected in the official statistics. Additionally, according to data from Japanese and South Korean media, around 2% of evacuees from Hubei tested positive. If we go by this estimate, the real number of infected people could be as high as 70,000 in Wuhan and 200,000 in the entire province of Hubei.
On social media, there are countless cries for help from residents in Wuhan and Hubei. Many people are sharing stories of family members who have been turned away from hospitals multiple times, left waiting for days with high fevers and lung infections, all while being labeled as "suspected" cases. One video I saw showed a man suspected of having the virus being rejected by a hospital. It’s said he jumped off a bridge in despair, fearing he would infect his family if he went home.
There are also reports of people collapsing in the streets and bodies being removed from residential buildings. On Weibo, under one hashtag, there are over 1,000 posts from people asking for help, many of which are deleted quickly. Another influential Weibo account has hundreds of similar messages from Hubei citizens pleading for assistance.
Medical supplies are extremely limited in Wuhan, and in smaller cities like Huanggang and Xiangyang, the situation is even worse. Despite the influx of relief supplies, hospitals and doctors continue to report shortages. Social media has exposed that the Wuhan Red Cross has been accused of hoarding donations, sparking widespread outrage. As public pressure mounted, both public and private media began monitoring their activities, helping speed up the distribution of aid.
One of the two new hospitals built to treat coronavirus patients was ready to accept patients on February 2nd, with 700–1,000 beds available. However, the demand still far exceeds the supply.
The government has announced stricter quarantine measures, requiring close contacts of infected or suspected individuals to be moved to "designated facilities." Some reports suggest that these facilities are lacking in medicine and treatment, so we’ll need to monitor the situation closely.
In other major Chinese cities, the situation is gradually improving. Beijing has postponed the start of the workweek again, pushing it back to February 9th. From February 2nd to 9th, employees are required to work from home. Major tech companies have extended the remote work period until the end of February. However, migrant workers have started returning to cities in batches since late January. So far, these measures seem to be working, as the number of confirmed cases in Beijing has decreased over the past two days.