In mid-January, Chinese consulates in Canada and worldwide issued an urgent call. China was concerned that the new coronavirus raging in Wuhan was so deadly and infectious that its nurses and doctors would run out of safety supplies.
It needed personal protective equipment (PPE). In just six weeks, China imported 2.5 billion pieces of epidemic safety equipment, including over two billion safety masks, Chinese government data shows.
And this raises big concerns on a number of fronts, say critics, including Conservative MP Erin O’Toole. China was evidently hiding the extent of a pandemic that endangered the world while covertly securing PPE at low prices.