US leaders need a lesson in math, science

"Do any people really believe this number?" That's what US President Donald Trump suddenly asked at the White House news conference on Sunday, when being shown that the number of deaths related to COVID-19 in China was 0.33 per 100,000 persons, compared to 45.2 in Belgium and 11.2 in the US.

The old "China-bias" emerged in the White House once again. In response to each and every one of China's achievements, they always tend to hold a doubting view. In their minds, China should fall behind Western countries in every aspect.

Actually, the idea of comparing death rates of different countries is absurd. We are not in a death competition and every life should be cherished. China has the lowest death rate among the world's major economies, yet we have never boasted about it. Instead, China held a national mourning for every life lost in the fight against the novel coronavirus on April 4.

Besides, we invest all efforts in saving every life, even when there's only the smallest hope of success. Data show that China spent an average of 150,000 yuan ($21,159), or five times the average annual income per person, on every patient in serious condition to save lives. More importantly, all the costs will be shouldered by the State and the patient does not need to pay a penny out of pocket.

For us, every death caused by the virus is a tragedy; for the US leader, the tens of thousands of deaths are just statistics that he hopes to use in the election.

About the numbers, maybe US leaders need some advisers who are good at math and science. There are 1.4 billion people in China, and Wuhan, with 9 million residents staying inside during the epidemic, accounts for less than one percent of the total. At the early stage of the epidemic, China had taken firm steps to lock down Wuhan, which effectively prevented the epidemic from spreading largely to other parts of the nation, which is an essential explanation for the low death rate. The vast majority of the nation had controlled the epidemic before it became too fierce.

Besides, China mobilized large quantities of medical resources to Wuhan, which gave the majority of the patients there the best treatment, and in turn lowered the death rate.

Anybody with good math and science education will get the point, instead of blindly labeling it "fake" only because it happens in China. Maybe the US leaders need to enlarge the advisory team to include such experts?