A disturbing article in the Grunian yesterday challenging the Chinese cases-deaths-recovery statistics suggesting that the virus has been completely eliminated. Many doubt the numbers are as good as officials have reported, and while the data we have used here comes from John Hopkins University, that is simply a copy of what the Chinese authorities say it is.
Any rational person would doubt these figures,” one internet user wrote in response to an essay posted by a volunteer in Wuhan questioning the statistics.
So the data really reflects 3 things. (1) the biological properties of the virus, i.e. whether it can be transmitted by sneeze droplets, how far and so on. (2) The expectations and fears of the population reacting to data about the epidemic, and (3) control exercised by the authorities over the properties of the data.