William Summers , a Yale University professor of medicine said that many countries , China included , were well known for withholding critical COVID-19 information from the rest of the world .
William Summers , a Yale University professor of medicine , told Undark Magazine though that such silencing and downplaying tactics are `` not unique to China '' , and `` seems to be standard operating procedure ” worldwide.. On 20 January , Xi Jinping made his first public remark on the outbreak and spoke of `` the need for the timely release of information '' .
2019–20 coronavirus pandemic in mainland China