DISINFO: Totalitarian countries are more effective at fighting coronavirus
SUMMARY
As practice shows, totalitarian regimes show greater efficiency in fighting the coronavirus. As the epidemic began, China fought very harshly and quickly overcame the crisis. Now strict restrictions are put in place for entering the country [China] so that the virus does not reenter it from European countries, where the number of infected people increases daily.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative that democracy is not effective in fighting coronavirus. See another similar case here on how Europe's freedom and democracy are preventing it from fighting the virus. This narrative is in conflict with earlier claims that Western countries are not democracies, and are controlled by globalist elites and shadowy government and not the people.
Moreover, authoritarian/ totalitarian regimes, which tend to control and manipulate information and to limit the freedom of doctors and scientists to engage in international cooperation, are often an obstacle to the timely detection and containment of epidemic outbreaks.
A clear example is China’s deliberate cover-up of the early days of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. The regime suppressed information about the virus and allowed it to spread unchecked in the crucial early days and weeks. The Chinese government censored and detained those doctors and whistleblowers who attempted to sound the alarm and warn their fellow citizens when they understood the gravity of the coronavirus threat.
Furthermore, the real antidote to the coronavirus pandemic (and to future epidemic outbreaks) is not to revert to totalitarianism and “closed societies” but to develop a global response.