Finally, CBS has found civil unrest they don’t like. During Thursday’s CBS Mornings, the network moaned about the Chinese citizens that took to the streets a few weeks ago to protest the communist regime’s zero-COVID policy. Despite the fact the policy saw people get welded into their homes and literally dragged kicking and screaming to fates unknown, the network huffed that COVID was now exploding “like a volcano.”
“The dramatic spread of COVID-19 in China is pushing the U.S. to introduce new rules for travelers coming from that country,” announced fill-in anchor Adriana Diaz teed up the segment. “Starting one week from today, anyone leaving China for the U.S. will have to test negative for COVID before getting on a plane.”
Normally obsessed with January 6, correspondent Scott MacFarlane was tasked with decrying the people protesting their oppressors, blaming their quest for freedom for why COVID was on the rise:
Hospitals in China are overwhelmed, pushed to the brink. And funeral processions are constant. The world's most populated nation is awash in COVID, in many areas under-prepared … But at the same time, after months of protest and unrest, the Chinese government abruptly lifted its strict zero-COVID restrictions which had limited movement and the spread of the virus.
MacFarlane’s swipe at the oppressed folks in China was in stark contrast to CBS’s Lucy Craft, who on Wednesday called the zero-COVID policy “draconian.”
He leaned on Vanderbilt University infectious diseases professor Dr. William Schaffner, who also whined about the lifting of zero-COVID. “China has suddenly loosened up its restrictions left and right, and that's just provided an extraordinary opportunity for this virus to just, like a volcano, explode,” he declared.
MacFarlane concluded his report by warning that the Biden administration’s new testing requirements for people traveling from China to the U.S. weren’t going to work. “Doctors warn while there may be benefits, they could be minimal. Travel restrictions put in place at the start of the pandemic were not able to stop all the virus or all the variants,” he said.
CBS is on record supporting China’s draconian and oppressive policies during the pandemic, which NewsBusters covered.
In March of 2020, the network (via then-Asia correspondent Ramy Inocencio) praised the communist regime for how they “attacked” the virus. “Meanwhile, in China, the government attacked … To stop the spread, a massive lockdown radiated out to nearly 60 million people across central China…” Inocencio praised at the time.
And while he admitted “strong-arm tactics were used against people who refused to wear masks, with some beaten while others were locked into their homes, forcefully quarantined,” Inocencio marveled at the results: “And new incredible stat out of China just today. The country reported just one, only one new domestic coronavirus case.”
This support for draconian and oppressive laws was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Ensure and Netflix. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CBS Mornings
December 29, 2022
7:08:25 a.m. EasternADRIANA DIAZ: The dramatic spread of COVID-19 in China is pushing the U.S. to introduce new rules for travelers coming from that country. Starting one week from today, anyone leaving China for the U.S. will have to test negative for COVID before getting on a plane. As Scott MacFarlane reports, the Biden administration is acting now because it's worried about cases rising and new variants emerging.
[Cuts to video]
SCOTT MACFARLANE: Hospitals in China are overwhelmed, pushed to the brink. And funeral processions are constant. The world's most populated nations is awash in COVID, in many areas under-prepared.
DR. ALFRED WU (Associate Prof. University of Singapore): If you go to Beijing, they have so many good hospitals. But if you go to further cities, or like rural areas it's total difference.
MACFARLANE: But at the same time, after months of protest and unrest, the Chinese government abruptly lifted its strict zero-COVID restrictions which had limited movement and the spread of the virus.
DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER (Vanderbilt University): China has suddenly loosened up its restrictions left and right, and that's just provided an extraordinary opportunity for this virus to just, like a volcano, explode.
MACFARLANE: So, starting next week, the U.S. Is joining a growing list of nations requiring people traveling from China to have tested negative for COVID within 48 hours of departure to be allowed through.
And the Centers for Disease Control announced it's expanding its COVID surveillance program at U.S. airports in which passengers volunteer to undergo a nasal swab to better detect a new wave of cases. Health experts hope these measures help.
SCHAFFNER: No barrier is perfect, but putting up this barrier for testing is a prudent thing to do to try to keep potential new variants out of this country for as long as possible.
[Cuts back to live]
MACFARLANE: Doctors warn while there may be benefits, they could be minimal. Travel restrictions put in place at the start of the pandemic were not able to stop all the virus or all the variants. Nate?
NATE BURLESON: Scott, thank you. We appreciate you.
