The number of novel coronavirus patients in Wuhan, the epicenter of China's virus outbreak, was manipulated in time for President Xi Jinping's earlier this month, a local doctor has told Kyodo News.
A number of symptomatic patients were abruptly released from quarantine early while a portion of testing was suspended, the doctor said Thursday.
China's health authorities that day reported no new cases of coronavirus infection in Wuhan, marking the first time for the city to have no instances of local transmission since the viral epidemic began late last year.