Yeah, that sounds ominously plausible for the awful communists running China:
The spread of the new coronavirus has captured the attention of the world, making it essential that we not abandon the millions of imprisoned Chinese Uighurs [in concentration camps masquerading as job training centers] who have limited access to hospitals, nutrition and quarantine areas. ...
These camps, where as many as 3 million people are detained, are at risk of becoming death chambers.
The virus has already spread to regular prisons (tip to Instapundit):
Hundreds of Chinese inmates have been infected with the novel coronavirus as the outbreak spreads to prisons across China.
He Ping, an official at China's Ministry of Justice, told reporters at a daily briefing Friday that officials have been fired after more than 500 cases of the newly discovered virus were diagnosed in five prisons across three Chinese provinces, including Hubei, the epicenter of the outbreak. No deaths have been reported, he said.
I've taken pains in the past to note that concentration camps are different than death camps. If the coronavirus just happens to sweep through those remote camps, you'll see the difference. Eventually.
The Chinese officials in charge will get promoted and not fired.
UPDATE: I'm not sure if this article saying the coronavirus may have started in the Xinjiang concentration camps is simply a twisting of the reports about fears it might spread to the camps or actual evidence of a different origin.
UPDATE: And I don't know what to make of this claim about the virus escaping from a lab (tip to Instapundit).
The problem is that the Chinese Communist Party hasn't earned any trust for their claims about how the virus started.
UPDATE: The Iranians blame the virus for recent low voter turnout and one cleric claims America inflicted the virus on Iran.
UPDATE: Heck, maybe the Chinese Communist Party sees the opportunity as a threat:
The Maoist totalitarian state is being reborn in China under Xi Jinping, who is constructing a personality cult akin to that which surrounded the late “Great Helmsman.” Xi is determined to strengthen his and the Chinese Communist Party’s authority. However, the response of the Chinese government to the COVID-19 virus has undermined the CCP’s credibility—and ultimately may threaten the party’s hold on power.
Probably not. But who knows?
