Locals in Northeastern China: There Are More CCP Virus Infections Than Officially Reported

Laboratory technicians work on testing samples from people to be tested for the CCP virus at a laboratory in Shenyang, China, on Feb. 12, 2020. STR/AFP via Getty Images

Local residents of the northeastern cities of Shenyang and Jilin told The Epoch Times there are cases of the CCP virus that aren’t being reported by authorities as they enforce strict rules to isolate people and lock down hospitals and other facilities.

The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, first broke out in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, then quickly spread to all parts of the country.

After a period in March when local authorities throughout China proclaimed that there were little to no new infections, regions of northeastern China confirmed a second wave outbreak that erupted in April.

Shenyang

From early May to May 19, China’s National Health Commission only reported three infections in Shenyang during the second wave outbreak. The “patient zero” was 23-year-old Hao, who was diagnosed on May 10, and had traveled from Jilin city, Jilin Province—another northeastern city with a severe outbreak—on May 5. The other two were colleagues of Hao, and were diagnosed on May 13.

All three live and work in Hunnan district of Shenyang. However, Hunnan was designated as a “low-risk region” for virus spread, while the nearby Sujiatun district was designated a “medium-risk region,” according to the Liaoning provincial government. While authorities did not report any cases from Sujiatun, this district’s designation indicates the outbreak there could be more severe than in Hunnan district.

Shenyang residents told The Epoch Times about COVID-19 cases they heard from family members and relatives, including in the Dadong and Yuhong districts of Shenyang.

“A nurse at Shenyang 463 Hospital [in Dadong] became infected with the virus from her boyfriend. She hadn’t had any symptoms in the first several days. She then transmitted the virus to other medical staff because she [didn’t know she was infected and] kept on working,” Mr. Bian told the Chinese-language Epoch Times on May 16.

According to an official document from the Shenyang government leaked onto social media, the nurse is surnamed Liu. She and a friend rent a room in Dadong district, but live at her boyfriend’s home when both of them don’t need to work night shifts. Her boyfriend, who chatted with Hao at work, is one of the diagnosed patients on May 13.

Mr. Bian said he heard of a diagnosed patient who was not announced by authorities, who lives in Sujiatun district, who traveled from Jilin city.

Another Shenyang resident, Mr. Ji, said that Yuhong district also has diagnosed patients. “But it [the government] doesn’t tell us,” he said. “It sent a fleet of more than 10 vehicles. Wherever the vehicles stopped, dozens of people dressed in protective suits got off the vehicles and forced local residents to be isolated at quarantine centers.”

Jilin

Residents in Jilin city also said they heard of cases authorities did not report.

Ms. Wen lives in Shulan, a county-level city within Jilin city’s jurisdiction. As a close contact of one of the infected families there, she told the Chinese-language Epoch Times more details about the outbreak on May 18.

Authorities announced that the patient zero is a cleaning lady who works at the Shulan police bureau. “She has a big family, a brother, and three sisters,” Wen said. “One of her sisters works at the Shulan People’s Hospital.”

Wen said that the patient zero has been sick for a while. “She infected many members in her family. Her mother died of the virus several days ago, and the youngest member infected in her family is a five-year-old girl. The government didn’t report any of them,” Ms. Wen said. She added that authorities ordered the patient’s family members to be isolated in Changchun, the capital city of Jilin Province, to prevent further spread.

Wen added that the provincial government also dispatched police officers from other cities to assist the Shulan police bureau, because “all staff at the Shulan police bureau and their families are being isolated in Jilin city,” per authorities’ instructions.

Wen also said the Shulan Mining Affairs Bureau General Hospital has been modified into a makeshift hospital dedicated to treating COVID-19 patients.

The Epoch Times could not independently verify the information local residents provided.