Last Wednesday evening, top officials in the central Chinese city of Wuhan settled into their seats at an auditorium for a Lunar New Year gala — even as a new virus that originated in their city was spreading rapidly.
Thousands of people flooded Wuhan's hospitals, which pleaded for donations of masks, disinfectant and medical supplies as overworked doctors and nurses grappled with the crowds.
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China institutes one of the largest quarantines in modern history, locking down more than 50 million people in Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province, questions are swirling about the city and provincial governments’ sluggish initial response to an outbreak that has infected thousands of people and killed more than 100.