# Downplaying Covid

[Dominic Dwyer](https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/worldtoday/scientists-develop-first-lab-grown-version-of-coronavirus/11909900) (Jan 29, 2020): *This virus is probably **not too much of a problem**, but you know, we've got to monitor. .. I mean, we know that there are over 4,000 cases in China, most of which will be that province (Hubei), but when you consider what the population of Wuhan is ..10 million or so people, the likelihood of people being infected is still **extremely low**.*

ELEANOR HALL/ABC: S*ome people inside China are saying that there is actually a greater spread of the virus than we're being told.*

[Dominic Dwyer](https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/worldtoday/scientists-develop-first-lab-grown-version-of-coronavirus/11909900): ***We've got to remember** that it is wintertime in China. They're going through their **normal influenza season**. So just because people say they're seeing people who are sick, doesn't mean they have this new coronavirus. .. (S)ome of the reporting and the **kind of social media stuff** is a bit **over the top***.

Dominic, your support of the CCP’s version of Covid on the highest of official public-funded platforms was/is *a bit* *over the top*.

That’s a pity - coz if you could have warned the world earlier that we may be dealing with a juiced-up super-virus escaped from a lab!

That would've put the world on its toes.

Early intervention would have shut down Covid before it escaped into the world.

Worked in Taiwan. Who - did the opposite of what - WHO/you - advised.

If it worked there - could've worked everywhere.

(Can't now of course. *Too late mate.* Which is where the culpability comes creeping in ... )

Such a shame ... We could have all avoided the scary rise of the bio-state vax-regime. Never would have needed to exist.

Or was that why you down-played it? You see that as the *silver-lining*?

ELEANOR HALL: *Australia's government is looking .. to evacuate those Australians trapped in Wuhan, but the **WHO is warning foreign governments** against pulling their citizens out. What do you think is the right approach?*

[Dominic Dwyer](https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/worldtoday/scientists-develop-first-lab-grown-version-of-coronavirus/11909900): *My personal opinion is … they're probably actually **okay**. ..I think the sort of rushing in of planes to pull people out, I don't think helps sort of **allay the general anxiety of the population**.*

Hmm, *Allay the general anxiety of the population* - so that was your goal? As a WHO expert, is that science or playing politics, Dominic?

<span style="font-weight: 400;">WHO also told us:</span>

- <span style="font-weight: 400;">There is</span>[ *<span style="font-weight: 400;">no evidence of human-to-human transition</span>*<span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span>](https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1217043229427761152)
- <span style="font-weight: 400;">Covid is</span>[ *<span style="font-weight: 400;">not </span>*<span style="font-weight: 400;">an international emergency.</span>](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/who-declines-to-declare-coronavirus-outbreak-a-global-health-emergency/)
- [<span style="font-weight: 400;">Don’t close the borders</span>](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-05/who-coronavirus-update-china-travel/11930752)<span style="font-weight: 400;"> with China.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">  
    </span>
- [<span style="font-weight: 400;">Don’t wear masks.</span>](https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/30/world/coronavirus-who-masks-recommendation-trnd/index.html)
- [*<span style="font-weight: 400;">China’s commitment to transparency</span>*](https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-statement-on-ihr-emergency-committee-on-novel-coronavirus-(2019-ncov))*<span style="font-weight: 400;"> is .. impressive, and </span>****beyond words****<span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span>*


Scary truth: When the big moment came, we’re all relying on our highly-paid experts ... you/WHO down-played it.

Thereby causing a disaster to erupt.

We’ve also *got to remember* that you *were* in Beijing in 2004 when SARS-1 escaped twice. So you must have known that a lab-experiment-gone-wrong was a strong possibility. If you had reported that information, raised the alarm, the virus would have been stamped out early - when it was still possible. That would have saved 4 million lives and averted a global catastrophe. (edit: 15mil n counting as of May 2022)

But no, you did the opposite.

Your advice allowed the virus the crucial space it needed to spread around the world. Good job.

Are you ok being held accountable for that?

(Full disclosure: i got the severity wrong as well in the beginning - but that was back in Jan 2020 when i still listened to the experts on the ABC.)