Coronavirus Class Action Alleges China Hid Virus News

A class action lawsuit has been filed against The People’s Republic of China by the owners of U.S. small businesses claiming that the country engaged in a cover-up which enabled the spread of the coronavirus across the world.

The plaintiffs state that, as early as November 2019, China knew or should have known that COVID-19 was a “new” dangerous and contagious virus because many Chinese citizens were contracting the virus and were getting sick.

In addition, the coronavirus class action maintains that, at this time, the Chinese government had credible scientific evidence that the coronavirus started in Wuhan, China and was capable of causing a worldwide pandemic.

The plaintiffs claim that the Chinese government intentionally misled the international community about the coronavirus and its devastating medical and economic consequences. Further, the lawsuit alleges that China covered up the severity of this health pandemic.

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When they identified the virus, China had a responsibility to its own citizens, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the world to disclose the COVID-19 risks, the China coronavirus class action argues. But, instead of notifying the international community, China allegedly engaged in a campaign of misinformation and lies and arrested any Chinese doctors, scientists, or attorneys who attempted to inform the outside world about the virus.

The Chinese government is a totalitarian governmental system which involves exaggerating good news and suppressing bad news, according to the coronavirus class action lawsuit. Instead of disclosing information about the coronavirus, the Chinese government “engaged in a campaign of falsehoods, misinformation, cover-up and destruction of evidence,” the plaintiffs claim.

The coronavirus class action states that the defendants failed to report the outbreak, under-reported the severity of the virus, under-reported the deaths that were occurring due to the virus, and did not contain the outbreak even though they knew the severity of the situation.

In addition, the defendants allegedly allowed thousands of people to travel from Wuhan to the United States between November 2019 and February 2020. This travel was allowed even though China knew or should have known that there was a high likelihood that these individuals carried the virus and would contaminate many people in the United States, according to the coronavirus class action lawsuit.

The China coronavirus class action claims that on Dec. 27, 2019, Dr. Zhang Jixian at the Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine told the government about a new disease that had infected 180 patients. Despite knowing about the virus, the Chinese government allegedly suppressed this information.

The plaintiffs note that the Chinese government started to censor all social media references about the new disease and the government’s response.

According to the coronavirus class action, the Chinese government finally alerted the WHO about pneumonia with an “unknown cause” on Dec. 31, 2019, one and half months after the first reported case.

As of March 22, 2020, the defendants say that the pandemic is under control in China and there are very few deaths in China related to COVID-19, according to the plaintiffs.

Despite these representations, a Chinese billionaire has allegedly stated that China is under-reporting illnesses and death due to COVID-19 because they are using portable incubators to cremate up to 1,200 bodies per day.

“The Defendants’ conduct has set off an unprecedented world-wide pandemic, which has caused panic, illnesses, deaths, and a global recession financial meltdown that will result in a global recession worse than the great depression,” the China class action lawsuit states.

Because of the rising threats of the coronavirus, the United States has barred travel to China as well as many parts of the world, the plaintiffs say. The consequences of the virus are extreme with the New York Stock Exchange suffering its worst losses since the Great Depression, the coronavirus class action notes.

The plaintiffs argue that the misconduct of China has caused monetary and damages to them as well as other Class Members who own small businesses in the United States. These damages, they allege, exceed hundreds of billions of dollars and will continue to escalate as many of these businesses have been forced to close or work at a reduced capacity.

“The Defendants’ conduct and misconduct has caused and will continue to cause the named Plaintiffs and Class Members, to suffer, among other things, reduced revenues, reduced profits and/or the closure of many US ‘small businesses,’” the China class action lawsuit states.

The plaintiffs are represented by Robert T. Eglet and Tracy A. Eglet of Eglet Adams.

The China Coronavirus Class Action Lawsuit is Bella Vista LLC, et al. v. The People’s Republic of China, et al., Case No. 2:20-cv-00574, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada.

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