The Guardian view on China and the coronavirus: scrutiny, not stigma | Editorial

It's right to scrutinise the official response to the outbreak, but that does not justify spreading wild rumours or discriminating against Chinese people

The coronavirus outbreak that began in Wuhan has shown how far and fast a disease can travel in our globalised age. It has also shown us how quickly fear, misinformation and blame can spread, only hindering the fight against the pneumonia-causing virus.

The alarm is understandable. More than 6,000 cases have been confirmed, and more than 130 people have died: a public health expert at Imperial College has suggested that 100,000 may be infected already. World Health Organization officials think it is impossible to predict when the outbreak will peak. Though only a few score people outside China have been confirmed as infected, they are scattered from the US and Australia to Thailand and the UAE. In Japan and Germany, patients who have never been to China have been taken ill.