FRONTLINE

China Admits 1,716 Health Workers Contracted Coronavirus, Six Are Already Dead

Admission comes as Trump administration claims China is not being honest about the scale of the crisis.

China has confirmed that 1,716 of its health workers have been infected while caring for infected coronavirus patients. The death toll, which includes at least six health workers, has now surpassed 1,400 victims. It has fluctuated in recent days as China struggles to cope with how to measure the extent of the epidemic, Beijing now says it has instituted “wartime measures” to fight the spread. Senior White House officials have called on China to be more transparent over its handling of the deadly outbreak amid reports of 5,000 new cases reported on Friday alone. Larry Kudlow, director of the U.S. National Economic Council, expressed disappointment that Beijing has effectively shut out the Trump administration, shunning offers to help and ignoring inquiries about the full extent of the outbreak. “We are a little disappointed that we haven’t been invited in and we’re a little disappointed in the lack of transparency coming from the Chinese,” Kudlow told reporters. “I don’t know what their motives are... Is the Politburo really being honest with us?” he asked, referring to China’s Communist Party leadership body.