Don't sneeze. Coronavirus is a threat to oil markets and global economies

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

This New York Times drone video is seriously unnerving.

Drone Footage Shows Wuhan Under Lockdown

By The New York Times • February 4, 2020

Aerial footage shows a quiet and desolate picture of Wuhan, China. The city, which has been at the center of the coronavirus outbreak, has been sealed off since Jan. 23.

 

Eerie Drone Footage Of Wuhan Reveals China's Real "Ghost City"

In its latest video on the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, the New York Times managed to fly a drone over the city of Wuhan, which has been under quarantine/lockdown orders from Beijing for more than a week.

The footage is haunting - like something out of an apocalyptic horror movie.

Roughly 80% of virus-related deaths have occurred in Wuhan since the outbreak began. But there's reason to believe the death toll - particularly in Wuhan - might be much higher.

 

 

[Rob Plant + 2,756]

9 hours ago, frankfurter said:

The WHO has people on the ground in Wuhan

I didnt know they were touring China

RIP Keith Moon

[wrs + 893]

Wuhan has a 70kbbl/day refinery.   All of the large refineries in China are on or near the coast.  Oil demand is not down by 500kbbl/day due to the corona virus, the big refineries did not stop processing oil because of this virus, it's a big deal to shut down a refinery and I have yet to see any reports of refinery shutdowns.  Where is all the real data to support this hysteria?

The chinese just cut their tarrifs by 50% on US goods INCLUDING OIL, that is a demand booster.  There is no worldwide impact on demand for oil with this corona virus. Until the virus spreads worldwide, if it can, the impact isn't significant.  The market is discounting an unkown future while continuing to ignore the very real 1mmbbl/day reduction of supply from Libya wich more than offsets any temporary reduction in Chinese demand.

[oilexpert.nl + 36]

Looking at current oil and gas prices, the worst has yet to come. China realizes they can not produce usual volumes of products the coming months, so China did cut 50% on the import tariffs today. Russia will not agree to further production cuts, news today, what is logical as the this would not stop price of falling further. As mentioned before in a post above. Hopefully an antivirus is developed, if not the current graph showed will become a nightmare. For China and industry.

Oil and gas prices in paper trade is nice to make money for traders when you have to sell unsold crude floating around the world with no takers prices can come down very fast. Who is going te buy? Refiners? No jetfuel and gasoline stocks are high enough. Traders? No, no  prices will not rebound in coming weeks/months, not wise to pay the terminal fees.

The threat therefore I think is very big and traders will keep on pushing prices down  to make a more money the coming weeks. Let's see.

Hope I am wrong.

[Gerry Maddoux + 3,627]

^

China is in real trouble. Their only level 4 lab is basically the epicenter of their viral outbreak, not the wet market. They need help from the global community, but they're too mortified, guilty, and proud to ask for it. The CDC and WHO are going in anyway.

From their injection of 1.2T in liquidity, their basic economic system is at risk of failing. The tariffs had demolished them already. Now this virus, which nobody believes was a fluke of nature. Grocery shelves are empty. Most inbound flights and outbound flights not having to do with emergency evacuation have been cancelled. Only God truly knows the extent of infectivity and mortality----but it is almost certainly some magnitude of what we've been told. Before long, humanitarian aid to prevent mass starvation and death by pestilence will be necessary.

Oil demand is down not only in China but all over. Despite the fact that petroleum products have been about 50% responsible for the tremendous increase in the standard of living and life expectancy growth during the last century, people are eager to jump on the climate change bandwagon--you see some of them on these pages; some of the authors of papers on this website get paid for hysteria-inciting and only partly accurate word-mastering. Still, no mind: these climate change fanatics/opportunists are winning the propaganda war. 

But one day--ONE DAY!--after lots of producers have fallen to the wayside and rebalancing has occurred, there will be a supply crunch. Then a spike in prices. And the people who are bellyaching now about how we've ruined their planet will begin screaming that the oil producers are gouging them at the pump, and elsewhere; my god, they'll be desperate for oil. This has basically been the history of oil . . . only now the shrieks are louder and the planet is, no doubt about it, going through some fairly obvious changes. I am stubborn enough to believe that the mere enactment of the IMO-2020 may result in reversal of many climate changes--that is the biggest ecological step in our lifetimes, not the creation of windmills, solar panels, or electric cars. But there's not much ink used in writing about the IMO-2020; better to take shots at all the other stuff.  

[notsonice + 1,255]

21 minutes ago, Gerry Maddoux said:

^

China is in real trouble. Their only level 4 lab is basically the epicenter of their viral outbreak, not the wet market. They need help from the global community, but they're too mortified, guilty, and proud to ask for it. The CDC and WHO are going in anyway.

From their injection of 1.2T in liquidity, their basic economic system is at risk of failing. The tariffs had demolished them already. Now this virus, which nobody believes was a fluke of nature. Grocery shelves are empty. Most inbound flights and outbound flights not having to do with emergency evacuation have been cancelled. Only God truly knows the extent of infectivity and mortality----but it is almost certainly some magnitude of what we've been told. Before long, humanitarian aid to prevent mass starvation and death by pestilence will be necessary.

Oil demand is down not only in China but all over. Despite the fact that petroleum products have been about 50% responsible for the tremendous increase in the standard of living and life expectancy growth during the last century, people are eager to jump on the climate change bandwagon--you see some of them on these pages; some of the authors of papers on this website get paid for hysteria-inciting and only partly accurate word-mastering. Still, no mind: these climate change fanatics/opportunists are winning the propaganda war. 

But one day--ONE DAY!--after lots of producers have fallen to the wayside and rebalancing has occurred, there will be a supply crunch. Then a spike in prices. And the people who are bellyaching now about how we've ruined their planet will begin screaming that the oil producers are gouging them at the pump, and elsewhere; my god, they'll be desperate for oil. This has basically been the history of oil . . . only now the shrieks are louder and the planet is, no doubt about it, going through some fairly obvious changes. I am stubborn enough to believe that the mere enactment of the IMO-2020 may result in reversal of many climate changes--that is the biggest ecological step in our lifetimes, not the creation of windmills, solar panels, or electric cars. But there's not much ink used in writing about the IMO-2020; better to take shots at all the other stuff.  

All commodities are getting slammed, not just oil. China is heading to a recession fast and the Virus is expanding to all corners of China. Expect all other economies across the globe to be affected. Deal with it

[Ward Smith + 6,615]

14 hours ago, frankfurter said:

Run! Hide! The sky is falling.!! 

Hysteria resolves nothing.

True. We live now in an era of fake news, aka propaganda. Unfortunately, all MSM and governments propagate lies, leading to dire consequences. The worst offender is the USA. The lies about 911 and WMD in Iraq have led to the deaths of millions: with minuscule being Americans. The consequences of China's propaganda is limited to its own people, and has not caused the murders of innocent millions outside, yet China is vilified as the world's worst propagandist.

The numbers leaked by Tencent are extremely suspect. A confirmed case requires examination and diagnosis, which requires facilities, time, and staffing to complete. All resources are swamped: like trying to pour a bathtub of water into a Pepsi bottle. Do readers here believe Tencent has its own facilities and staff for this?  Thousands of cadavers must be processed. Where are they stacked? Rotting in the outdoors to create even more problems? Tencent took a census? How? Where are the photos? Possible cases are the guess of anyone. Tencent took a census?

Even if the possible are 100k cases, that is less than 1% of the population - omg, save yourselves, run for the hills. 

The WHO has people on the ground in Wuhan. The WHO is satisfied China is doing everything possible to contain, treat, manage and report the situation.  So readers here suspect the WHO for fake news too?  

This virus is and will be contained. The peak should occur soon and eradication will follow in due course. Only at the end will we be able to count and assess the damage.
 

At least you don't have to worry about this "Fake" whistle-blower anymore

He's dead

[Old-Ruffneck + 1,246]

10 minutes ago, notsonice said:

All commodities are getting slammed, not just oil. China is heading to a recession fast and the Virus is expanding to all corners of China. Expect all other economies across the globe to be affected. Deal with it

Not true, not all commodities are getting slammed. Please rephrase that.

[Ward Smith + 6,615]

5 minutes ago, Old-Ruffneck said:

Not true, not all commodities are getting slammed. Please rephrase that.

How about Copper then? 

[Old-Ruffneck + 1,246]

12 minutes ago, Ward Smith said:

How about Copper then? 

up .015c as of now. Gold up, 5.00+ beans 2.50, cattle, hogs, etc are all up...

Copper is just one commodity, just like platinum has been dropping for months. But gold is still on the rise as safe place to put some would say. Silver too. Tends to be less volatile than oil. The whole picture of all commodities isn't in the crapper, but oil was predicted in November here on OIlPrice to possibly hit upper 40's in early new year (2020).

Edited February 6, 2020 by Old-Ruffneck
add

[wrs + 893]

If things are so bad, why wouldn't Russia, the largest supplier of crude to China,  agree to make production cuts?  They have already shut their borders with China for travel but  they don't think China is going to stop buying oil from them?  Saudi Arabia is the second largest supplier to China and they do want to cut production.  

I have to think that both countries are going to be forced to cut production if China does cut back 3mmbbl/day as the market is pricing in.  To me, the behavior of the parties involved here doesn't add up to a serious loss of demand.  What is Russia going to do with all the oil it normally ships to China if the Chinese can't take it?  They can't sell it elsewhere easily because they have put a lot of infrastructure into those supply lines and I doubt it will be easy to redirect the oil.  It's the same kind of reason the US can't easily become a large China supplier, Panamax ships aren't big enough to be economic for the long trip to China from the GOM.  

There is no US east to west oil pipeline that could put Permian oil on the west coast.  It's all pipelines that run to the GC and so Europe is the biggest potential customer for US oil.  The Saudis and Iraq are going to be hurt the most by Chinese inability to buy oil, if such a situation materializes and they are the ones that will be forced to cut production because they can't offload it anywhere else.

The oil market is wrong or the suppliers to China are wrong.  To me, this is all about traders trying to push a false narrative in order to make money but it's hurting oil producers.  The unintended consequences won't be appreciated when they manifest.

 

 

Edited February 6, 2020 by wrs

[Enthalpic + 1,496]

3 hours ago, Ward Smith said:

How about Copper then? 

I always watch the price of gold and oil (I actually come here to look at oil prices too, shocking I know).

https://goldprice.org/gold-price-canada.html

If gold is going up my stocks trend down (market fears).

If oil is going up my stocks trend up (I'm heavily invested in Canadian companies).

 

Edited February 6, 2020 by Enthalpic

[Gerry Maddoux + 3,627]

1 hour ago, wrs said:

If things are so bad, why wouldn't Russia, the largest supplier of crude to China,  agree to make production cuts?  (Because Putin is one wily son-of-a-bitch--and this is geopolitical gerrymandering to him. Supply cheap oil to a customer in need and he's yours forever). 

What is Russia going to do with all the oil it normally ships to China if the Chinese can't take it? (That's one of the reasons oil fell so hard. And China apparently has so many LNG container ships backed up that they're declaring Force Majeur).

There is no US east to west oil pipeline that could put Permian oil on the west coast. (I don't think they want it, and I'm not being glib--they are convinced that they can go non-hydrocarbon, even though they can't. West Coast tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption? I'm not wishing it on them, but they're grown very complacent, and reliant on alternative energy sources).  

The oil market is wrong or the suppliers to China are wrong. (The suppliers--KSA and Russia--both understand the situation. Putin doesn't have the immense welfare consideration to make--he'd rather let his people die than support them. The KSA is in a very sticky situation: they absolutely have to have $80 Brent to support their people--who are prone to rebel. So they'd be willing to make massive production cuts, but they know the other members of OPEC would cheat--they're that desperate for greenbacks).

*My Summary: The global oil market is in trouble. We're going to have to grovel along the bottom until a war or a natural disaster comes along. At some point oil supply/demand will balance out and we're off to the races. Before that happens, a lot of producers are going to go out of business. I realize that's not a popular sentiment in the Permian, but it is the corner we've backed ourselves into. And it's an old, familiar refrain . . . just with a new verse this time around.

 

 

 

[wrs + 893]

Well I understand why the two countries might have different views on output based on internal needs but IF there really is a 3mmbbl/day hit to demand in China, that's got to show up as less procurements from both KSA and Russia.  

I can believe that China wants to downplay the impact of the virus as long as possible because they get to buy cheap oil if they convince OPEC+ not to cut production now.  These people are the biggest beneficiary on the planet of cheap oil.

However, if China quits importing 3mmbbl/day because they can't control the virus then KSA and Russia will both have to cut production as they don't have anywhere to sell their excess oil and I don't think either want the price any lower than it is now.  In the meantime, this kind of thing could lead to greater instability in the middle east. 

The market is still ignoring Libya taking 1mmbbl/day off the market, there is no end in sight for that and I think it's going to bite this month from what I was reading last week.  If China continues to import and fill storage then there is no drop in demand, China is just buying cheap oil courtesy of misguided traders. 

The LNG situation is different than the oil situation because this has been a mild winter, demand is way down for NG. The jury is still out on oil demand because the trade war is resolving as evidenced by the drop in tarrifs today. That has been a big basis for the argument of weak oil demand, it's no longer true as of today but it was supposed to have been priced in.  We also have lower than average oil inventory in the US and Cushing is below 40mmbbl both of which imply a slightly undersupplied market in the US.  Refiners are cutting runs and yet we don't have large builds.  I don't see increasing production in the US and so everything is pointing toward a tighter US market.  Traders don't see that, they are just focused on the pandemic impacts which have yet to materialize.

Edited February 6, 2020 by wrs

[notsonice + 1,255]

4 hours ago, Old-Ruffneck said:

Not true, not all commodities are getting slammed. Please rephrase that.

oh your right gold and silver are holding up. Hope you have a pile of real gold as oil today is not black gold

[Ward Smith + 6,615]

20 hours ago, frankfurter said:

This virus is and will be contained. The peak should occur soon and eradication will follow in due course. Only at the end will we be able to count and assess the damage.

Eradication center or hospital? 

Great video, but Google wouldn't let me get there directly, I'm sure they heard from their CCP masters so searches don't find it on YouTube. 

[Gerry Maddoux + 3,627]

33 minutes ago, wrs said:

Traders don't see that, they are just focused on the pandemic impacts which have yet to materialize.

Best I know, they're still not calling this a pandemic, but rather an epidemic in China and clusters everywhere else . . . but that's moot.

WRS, I get what you're saying but I think you need to take a look at some of those drone videos over Wuhan and Shanghai. There are no people on the streets. No cars. No public transportation. They have literally taken 50 million people off the grid, quarantining them at home. I read that something like 50,000 flights into and out of China have been cancelled. So far. This would be the equivalent of taking one/sixth of the US population out of the workforce, all at one time.

This is, quite simply, a Black Swan event: up to ~30,000 cases of very sick people with an R Naught (reproduction rate) of 2.2 and growing (polio had an R Naught of 4). Something like 25% of infected people get very, very sick--dying sick. They've thrown up hospitals in no time. Still, they have inadequate space. We would too, here in the US, if, God forbid, we had something of this nature hit our population. We'd have them in gymnasiums and warehouses; our hospitals in the winter run about 90% capacity; more in places.

It didn't have to get this bad: they knew they had an outbreak and were simply too ashamed and mortified to a) ask our CDC and the WHO for help, b) admit that it escaped their Wuhan Level 4 Virus Biosafety Lab, and c) also admit that they'd been working with the virus (which would have saved a lot of time). Instead, they stalled and evaded, punished their doctors who tried to issue an early warning, and in the process allowed all those people to walk around, take public transport, touching things. Their unspeakable negligence turned a rogue viral outbreak into a full-blown epidemic that now, unwittingly, has become one of the greatest humanitarian threats since the Spanish Flu. 

They deserve global help (which basically translates into the United States--Russia isn't much when it comes to something like this and KSA is a total zero). And after this is contained, they need a good ass-kicking: 1) respectfully promise to clean up their act, 2) buy US oil and gas, 3) agree to 100% of the trade terms, 4) show friendship. Don't hold your breath: It'll be back to monkeying with some monkey virus.

But for now, with this kind of existential threat, it's a wonder that oil prices have held up as well as they have.   

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

Imperial College London - Professor Neil Ferguson works on the analytics and predictions surrounding the spread of the coronavirus.  Despite his poker face demeanor in this interview, the forward projections of the virus pandemic certainly make it look like there could be a strong impact on markets.  (Personally, I don't think they are being straight with us in the U.S.  I think the U.S. is withholding information about the spread.)  (10 minute interview)  https://youtu.be/ALQTdCYGISw 

[Otis11 + 551]

23 hours ago, Zhong Lu said:

So... who is willing to put their money into a company that's supposed to be making a vaccine for this? Or perhaps consider APT, which makes face masks? INO sold off the last week and is now back in the 3.5's, which is why I decided to jump in again.  Anyone else wish to try? 

I don't guarantee profits [in fact you may lose all your money, oh ho ho], but if people believe in what they say here, they should seriously consider stocks involved in this corona virus stuff like pharmaceuticals and facemask makers.

I do put my money where my mouth is, and it has served me well so far.

With this, I'm having a hard time picking winners, too many variables. I'm having a much easier time picking losers,  and have reallocated my portfolio accordingly. (Adjusted about 60% of my portfolio based on this. 20% I believe - perhaps better described as vain hope- is insulated enough, and the remaining 20% I'm going to let ride. Fortunately I'm picking things that, even if I'm wrong, minimize downside)

Remember, you don't have to be right most of the time to be successful,  you just need your wins x win percentage to be larger than your loss x loss percentage. (I'm only right about 40% of the time, but win big and hedge well)

12 hours ago, wrs said:

Until the virus spreads worldwide, if it can, the impact isn't significant.  The market is discounting an unkown future while continuing to ignore the very real 1mmbbl/day reduction of supply from Libya wich more than offsets any temporary reduction in Chinese demand.

It has, people just dont realize it yet.

And the world is 'so awash' in excess supply the risk of upside shock is deemed low. One of the things that has always kept oil contract prices high (and therefore also spot prices) were long term guarantee contracts that insulated consumers from variability - especially to the high side. Right now, we've seen with multiple incidents, the perception is if one supply goes down we can get it from somewhere else... so even real production losses have minimal impact because contacts are only covering actual costs now and not building in disruption risk (because correctly or not, this is being valued very low)

5 hours ago, wrs said:

The jury is still out on oil demand because the trade war is resolving as evidenced by the drop in tarrifs today. That has been a big basis for the argument of weak oil demand, it's no longer true as of today but it was supposed to have been priced in. 

I disagree that the trade war is resolving... China is unilaterally lowering tariffs because they NEED supplies on a scale only we can provide... and then asking us to reciprocate 'pretty please'???

The trade war isn't about deficit, or getting China to buy more of our crap. It's about 2 things - 1) fixing systematic deficiencies in previous trade deals (including the WTO rules) that have allowed China to exploit the world market, and 2) leverage to strong arm (or 'influence') some corporate actions behind the scenes that provide good optics - driving up the S&P500 and giving political talking points.

The trade war isn't over unless Trump losses reelection,  and even then, it depends who wins. (Though likely gets much easier for Xi if Trump is out)

[Otis11 + 551]

Found another site that's beneficial:

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

[0R0 + 6,251]

10 hours ago, wrs said:

Well I understand why the two countries might have different views on output based on internal needs but IF there really is a 3mmbbl/day hit to demand in China, that's got to show up as less procurements from both KSA and Russia.  

I can believe that China wants to downplay the impact of the virus as long as possible because they get to buy cheap oil if they convince OPEC+ not to cut production now.  These people are the biggest beneficiary on the planet of cheap oil.

However, if China quits importing 3mmbbl/day because they can't control the virus then KSA and Russia will both have to cut production as they don't have anywhere to sell their excess oil and I don't think either want the price any lower than it is now.  In the meantime, this kind of thing could lead to greater instability in the middle east. 

The market is still ignoring Libya taking 1mmbbl/day off the market, there is no end in sight for that and I think it's going to bite this month from what I was reading last week.  If China continues to import and fill storage then there is no drop in demand, China is just buying cheap oil courtesy of misguided traders. 

The LNG situation is different than the oil situation because this has been a mild winter, demand is way down for NG. The jury is still out on oil demand because the trade war is resolving as evidenced by the drop in tarrifs today. That has been a big basis for the argument of weak oil demand, it's no longer true as of today but it was supposed to have been priced in.  We also have lower than average oil inventory in the US and Cushing is below 40mmbbl both of which imply a slightly undersupplied market in the US.  Refiners are cutting runs and yet we don't have large builds.  I don't see increasing production in the US and so everything is pointing toward a tighter US market.  Traders don't see that, they are just focused on the pandemic impacts which have yet to materialize.

Saudi had 2 petrochem companies from China cancel standing 1 Mob/d orders. It is temporary. I am certain Russia orders were similarly cancelled. 

The maritime shipping reports show over 20% reduction in bookings at spot, and ship contracts cancelled midway to China for loading.

There is no air travel to speak of, as people can't leave because of the quarantine requirements and entry restrictions, and domestic travel is down >40% as of last week. 

Not clear how people make it back to work for next week, as most mass transit will remain closed as are schools. 

But it is important to note that most of the country's industry remains on shutdown since before the holiday, and one week of unplanned shutdown. 

Downstream effects are major. As Hyundai has run out of parts already and another Korean car maker announced it is running out of parts in a couple of days. Apple has run out of China sourced ear pod headphone parts. 

Restaurants and events are shut down, and shopping is done exclusively online or by order at the door of the store. They don't let you in and don't let you touch the goods before you pay, and then you can't return them. . 

There is only so much oil and refined product storage for what was unused these two weeks. Refineries were partially on maintenance for the holiday. So are delaying startup, no announcements would be made about a shutdown because they were not operating. But once storage is full up, the remaining refiners will start shutting down too.

We can only hope they get to a point where the country has enough test kits to clear people out of quarantine. They have quarantined whole high rise apartment buildings and neighborhoods of tens of thousands outside Hubei. Hubei is entirely disconnected and Wuhan is only supplied by its inland harbor on the Yangtze to minimize external contact.A medical supply company is starting test kit production in Wuhan today, expecting 10k per day. I am assuming that more would be produced elsewhere soon.

From what I can gauge, they have at best 60% of the economy running this week and that would be 6 Mob/d short of normal demand.I am hoping that they work up to 80% next week, and then gradually return unaffected areas to normal. Hubei will take months. So for the balance of Feb they will be a.1.5 Mob/d short on demand, 3 Mob/d short next week, and 6 mil/d this week. This is not going to translate to additional order cancellations and refinery closures till they run out of storage space. 

If the outbreak continues to expand, then they will keep things on shutdown. In which case, demand will remain at least 3 Mob/d below normal and up to 6 Mob/d.

Wuhan and Hubei are nearly 5% of China's economy and will remain shut down indefinitely.  

 

I agree that the market was undersupplied. Hence the backwardation of the recent period. (and not so recent) and depleting inventories. 

But commercials have been shorting this whole time on the weak rally. We don't have info on COTs post coronavirus. 

[frankfurter + 562]

Not entirely true.  Your comments are valid for Wuhan and affected area.  For other cities, no "lock-down", but voluntary quarantine as citizens are being pro-active.  The travel ban is imposed by foreign countries, Outside Wuhan and area, travel is not banned by the govt.

What is now clear is this crisis was mismanaged by the local govt: lack of expertise and resources caused delay. The central govt stepped in immediately when the extent became known, and the central govt has taken extraordinary actions to contain this tragedy.  A billion citizens are irate now and heads will roll when this ends. 

What dismays me and the Chinese is the outright hostility from the USA.  On this site too, the comments are derogatory.  The USA media has expressed nothing but condemnation and, like all propaganda, has poisoned the minds of an already poisoned society.  NOBODY IN USA HAS OFFERED A HELPING HAND, as if the Chinese people are less than human, PROVING THE USA SEES CHINA AS AN ENEMY.

In 2009, when the H1N1 swine virus struck the USA, the CDC reported 18,448 deaths. The USA needed a full 6 MONTHS to contain the virus. Did China condemn the USA? Impose travel bans? Close the border? Label Americans as swine?  No.  Later in 2012, a full 3 years after the fact, the CDC finally came clean and reported the death toll was over 300,000 globally.  In 2009, did China accuse the USA of misrepresenting the threat and of criminal negligence?  No.   

China needed only 6 days to isolate the virus, only 1 day to impose a complete quarantine after the threat extent became known, only 12 days to build a 2600 bed hospital.  Yet, members of this site are relentless in their condemnations.  Have you lost all sense of decency and morality?  Will nobody admit a helping hand is better than a dagger? 

 

 

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

13 minutes ago, frankfurter said:

Not entirely true.  Your comments are valid for Wuhan and affected area.  For other cities, no "lock-down", but voluntary quarantine as citizens are being pro-active.  The travel ban is imposed by foreign countries, Outside Wuhan and area, travel is not banned by the govt.

What is now clear is this crisis was mismanaged by the local govt: lack of expertise and resources caused delay. The central govt stepped in immediately when the extent became known, and the central govt has taken extraordinary actions to contain this tragedy.  A billion citizens are irate now and heads will roll when this ends. 

What dismays me and the Chinese is the outright hostility from the USA.  On this site too, the comments are derogatory.  The USA media has expressed nothing but condemnation and, like all propaganda, has poisoned the minds of an already poisoned society.  NOBODY IN USA HAS OFFERED A HELPING HAND, as if the Chinese people are less than human, PROVING THE USA SEES CHINA AS AN ENEMY.

I couldn't possibly disagree more with you.

So many people apparently subscribe to the "China Great / USA Evil" globalism mindset.

A Stunning 400 Million People Are On Lockdown In China As Guangzhou Joins Quarantine

Guangzhou, the capital of China's southwestern Guangdong Province and the country's fifth largest city with nearly 15 million residents, has just joined the ranks of cities imposing a mandatory lockdown on all citizens, effectively trapping residents inside their homes, with only limited permission to venture into the outside world to buy essential supplies.

The decision means 3 provinces, 60 cities and 400 million people are now facing China's most-strict level of lockdown as Beijing struggles to contain the coronavirus outbreak as the virus has already spread to more than 2 dozen countries.  ...

===============================================

 

Citizen Journalists Who Exposed Beijing's Lies In Wuhan Have Suddenly Vanished

As we reported late Thursday evening, the death toll from the viral outbreak on mainland China has surpassed 600. With global markets once again in the red, Bloomberg reports that Beijing has silenced two of the citizen journalists responsible for much of the horrifying footage seeping onto western social media.

As BBG's reporter explains, Chinese citizen journalists Chen Qiushi and Fang Bin have effectively been "the world’s eyes and ears" inside Wuhan (much of the film produced by American news organizations has consisted of drone footage). In recent days, SCMP and other news organizations reporting on the ground and publishing in English have warned that Beijing has stepped up efforts to censor Chinese social media after allowing citizens to vent their frustrations and share news without the usual scrutiny.

On Wednesday, China said its censors would conduct "targeted supervision" on the largest social media platforms including Weibo, Tencent’s WeChat and ByteDance’s Douyin. All in an effort to mask the dystopian nightmare that life in cities like Wuhan has become.

But that brief period of informational amnesty is now over, apparently. Fang posted a dramatic video on Friday showing him being forcibly detained and dragged off to a 'quarantine'. He was detained over a video showing corpses piled up in a Wuhan hospital. However, he has already been released.

Chen, meanwhile, seems to have vanished without a trace, and is believed to still be in government detention.  ...

 

 

 

[Rob Plant + 2,756]

33 minutes ago, frankfurter said:

NOBODY IN USA HAS OFFERED A HELPING HAND

How do you know this to be true?

just because its not in the media doesn't mean help hasn't been offered, however that offered help has to be accepted by the CCP.

I would imagine that any "help" would be refused by the CCP as they want to control what information gets out into the worlds media and that would be impossible if other nations were involved. This is a bit like Russia with the Chernobyl meltdown.

I haven't seen anyone on here from the USA being hostile to this situation or derogatory to the Chinese people, although I have not read every post. This is a catastrophe for the Chinese people both for their health and welfare and for their future economy.

I'm a Brit so neither pro or anti either nation, what I would say is that my heart goes out to those people suffering and I hope a vaccine is developed soon to stop this horrible virus in its tracks.

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

59 minutes ago, frankfurter said:

What dismays me and the Chinese is the outright hostility from the USA.  On this site too, the comments are derogatory.  The USA media has expressed nothing but condemnation and, like all propaganda, has poisoned the minds of an already poisoned society.  NOBODY IN USA HAS OFFERED A HELPING HAND, as if the Chinese people are less than human, PROVING THE USA SEES CHINA AS AN ENEMY.

 

16 minutes ago, Rob Plant said:

How do you know this to be true?

just because its not in the media doesn't mean help hasn't been offered, however that offered help has to be accepted by the CCP.

I would imagine that any "help" would be refused by the CCP as they want to control what information gets out into the worlds media and that would be impossible if other nations were involved. This is a bit like Russia with the Chernobyl meltdown.

"He's Strong, Sharp & Powerfully Focused": Trump Praises President Xi, Claims China's Virus "Counterattack" Is Going "Very Well"

... Meanwhile, the US will continue to work closely with China, the president pledged.

Just had a long and very good conversation by phone with President Xi of China. He is strong, sharp and powerfully focused on leading the counterattack on the Coronavirus. He feels they are doing very well, even building hospitals in a matter of only days. Nothing is easy, but...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 7, 2020

....he will be successful, especially as the weather starts to warm & the virus hopefully becomes weaker, and then gone. Great discipline is taking place in China, as President Xi strongly leads what will be a very successful operation. We are working closely with China to help!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 7, 2020

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1225728756456808448?ref_src=twsrc^tfw