Beijing-based enterprise correspondent Dake Kang used sourcing and documents to reveal that early in the coronavirus outbreak, widespread test shortages and other testing problems in China were caused largely by cronyism and a lack of transparency at the top disease control agency, including secret deals made with testing companies.
Through interviews with more than 40 people and hundreds of documents he obtained, Kang traced the problems back to secret deals that China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention made with three then-unknown companies with which officials had personal ties, giving the companies exclusive rights to the test kit design and distribution. Kang’s sources even had the price the companies paid to China’s CDC: 1 million RMB ($146,600) each.
The shortages and flaws in the kits meant that thousands of people either didn't get tested or tested false negative; they were sent home to spread the virus while scientists and officials were unable to see how fast the virus was spreading.
The level of detail in Kang’s story would be impressive anywhere, but is extraordinary coming from China which has tried to cover up its missteps. The story was also carefully balanced in its portrayal of China, pointing out that many other countries made similar mistakes.
Zhao Baihui, center, CEO of Shanghai-based testing kit company BioGerm, shakes hands after signing a partnership agreement during a trade fair in Nanchang, in eastern China's Jiangxi province, Aug. 22, 2020. An AP investigation revealed that BioGerm is one of three companies that paid for exclusive COVID-19 test kit design and distribution rights from China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention early in the outbreak. Testing shortcomings traced to the secret deals delayed China’s response to the spread of the virus.
AP Photo / Dake Kang
Shanghai-based testing kit company BioGerm presents a booth at a trade fair in Nanchang in eastern China's Jiangxi province, Aug. 21, 2020. An AP investigation revealed that BioGerm is one of three companies that paid for exclusive COVID-19 test kit design and distribution rights from China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention early in the outbreak. Testing shortcomings traced to the secret deals delayed China’s response to the spread of the virus.
AP Photo / Dake Kang
Peng Yi is treated for pneumonia at Wuhan City Hospital No. 7 in Wuhan, in central China’s Hubei province, Jan. 31, 2020, in a photo provided by his mother. Peng first started coughing on Jan. 23 at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, but because of a shortage of test kits, he wasn’t able to get tested for days. His first test result came out negative, barring him access to a hospital bed, and he wasn't able to be hospitalized until weeks later. By then his condition was critical; he died on Feb. 19.
Zhong Hanneng photo via AP
Zhong Hanneng cries at the grave of her son, Peng Yi, during what would have been his 40th birthday, in Wuhan, in central China's Hubei province, Aug. 12, 2020. Peng died Feb. 19 of COVID-19 after testing failures delayed his treatment.
Photo Courtesy Zhong Hanneng via AP
The story was widely praised, with experts and journalists calling it “very impressive,” “amazing,” “fantastic,” “vital, damning” and “another blockbuster AP report on the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak in January.” As one journalism professor put it, “We are now all paying the price” for the testing shortcomings.