Contagious Before Symptoms Appear: Expert Weighs in on Challenges to Control China Coronavirus’ Global Spread

“We're deluding ourselves into believing that we're stopping the epidemic by taking people's temperatures,” Garrett said.

Laurie Garrett was in Beijing when the Chinese authorities finally admitted the truth about the SARS virus in 2003.

In an interview with NTD on Jan. 27, the journalist and health analyst who covered over 30 epidemics said that about a quarter-million people had fled the city within 48 hours, dispersing all over the country, taking a SARS virus with them.