Releasing data on infected medics reflects government's contract with the people

On February 14, China's National Health Commission released a set of data saying that 1,716 medical workers have been infected by the COVID-19.

As it surpasses the number of medical workers infected during the SARS epidemic, this newly published information seems to have renewed a wave of challenges to the Chinese government's credibility and competency. Media outlets like CNN and The New York Times are spending much effort focusing on what they say is the local government's negligence at the initial stage of the outbreak with some journalists and commentators attributing the high number to the failure to promptly disclose the relevant information.

It cannot be denied that the local government in Wuhan City and Hubei Province has made missteps. In fact, the situation warranted a change of leadership in the middle of the crisis. Party chiefs at both the city and provincial level were replaced by officials who have been seen by the public as carrying more experience and executive capabilities.

"We need to view it from a strategic perspective… we would need some kind of commander with experience in the metropolis level and who had enough economic capability," Cai Xiaoxin, a Chinese military historian, said in an earlier interview.

And we need to view the release of the new data from a strategic point of view as well. The decision to publish the data doesn't get made in a vacuum and the data doesn't get to be released without context. Managing the COVID-19 is a process, there's an arc to it.

Before the reshuffle earlier in the week, the central government had become aware of the situation on the ground. The debacle at the Red Cross, the skyrocketing number of cases and dissatisfaction amongst the public have prompted many directives from Beijing.

Then came the course adjustment. The acts of changing party leadership in the region, imposing "wartime" control over certain regions and disclosing the medical staff infectious rate within a couple of days are part of the government's chartering of a different course in its campaign against the virus by remedying the local authorities' mistakes.

However, nature as its own rhythm. Hubei has the highest number of infected people. The close interaction between medical workers and patients naturally makes virus transmission highly probable. According to the data, 87.5 percent of the infected medics are in Hubei Province. The exposed working environment, the taxing schedule and a lack of information on taking proper preventive measures exacerbate the situation at the beginning of an outbreak.

And the current data is being collected based on this foundation. Professor Ivan Hung, an infectious disease specialist at Hong Kong University, told CNN that "The main problem is what happened early on in the outbreak, which had repercussions that have lasted till today." This is true on both medical and political fronts.

The data shows that the central government has combed through the efforts made in the early stage of the disease and is learning. And like the change in the regional Party leadership in responding to the situation, releasing the numbers to the public is the government's way of making a commitment to its citizens and the world that this is a problem and it will be solved. Breaking such a social contract would be a black eye on any government. And only capable and competent ones have the determination to throw down the gauntlet with such high visibility.