China does not manipulate COVID-19 data, say experts

“The discipline of the behavior of the population as a whole is much more characteristic than for the countries in Europe, including us,” RBC quoted an expert as saying.

Medical workers transfer a COVID-19 patient in severe and critical condition to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) ward at the Zhongfaxincheng campus of Tongji Hospital affiliated to Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province, April 12, 2020 (PHOTO/Shen Bohan).

MOSCOW — China does not manipulate any data related to the number of its COVID-19 infections or deaths, said experts.

Anatoly Altstein, a virologist at Russia’s Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, told Russian media RBC in a recent interview that China has contained the pandemic at an early stage with its “high discipline and effective quarantine.”

Echoing Altstein, Larisa Popovich, director of the Institute for Health Economics at Russia’s National Research University Higher School of Economics, also praised China’s strong discipline in the anti-epidemic fight, according to RBC.

China once applied a strong lockdown and has strictly abided by the T3 (test, treat, track) strategy, she said.

“The discipline of the behavior of the population as a whole is much more characteristic than for the countries in Europe, including us,” RBC quoted Popovich as saying.