On Friday, the Chinese government had finally admitted that they did not deliver an accurate report on the real number of coronavirus fatalities in Wuhan, the origin of the deadly pandemic. US officials react, stating that the “global scandal” might cause irreparable damages to the country’s reputation.

In a report from Bloomberg News, China said that they had adjusted the death toll, and had finally revised the official death count. The government added 1,290 deaths, bringing in the nationwide death toll to 4,636. According to the media outlet, a lot of factors had contributed to the “delayed” reporting. Bloomberg noted that some patients died at home without seeing a doctor as hospitals were filled to its maximum capacity.

However, despite the new reports, The Washington Post refused to believe that China was telling the truth. In fact, the publication believed that the real number of deaths was 16 times higher than the original report.

China refuted the claims and declared that data revisions were a “common practice” and was not intended to downplay the massive effects of the coronavirus pandemic, China Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Zhai Lijian said in a statement.

Due to their faulty reporting, Sen. Marco Rubio believed that China had already caused irreparable damage to its reputation as a country. On Thursday, the Republican lawmaker told “The Story” that “You know, from the very beginning of this crisis, the Chinese have been less than transparent.”

The senator’s response came after Fox News reported that US officials believed that the COVID-19 virus has escaped from a Wuhan lab. “It would be a dramatic, earth-shattering revelation, if, in fact, turns out to be the case,” Rubio remarked. He continued to say that it would surely reflect on China’s health and safety standard, as well as its reputation as a nation. “Global scandal…one of the most outrageous things that has happened in the modern history of the world if that [report] were to turn out to be true,” he added.

In fact, despite claims that the city of Wuhan had finally recovered from the massive effects of the coronavirus outbreak, media outlet, the Epoch Times claimed that China’s happy celebration was far from reality. The Times reported that officials continued to quietly implement quarantine on local residents as a new infection spreads.

Locals claimed that life was far from normal as they can only travel for work purposes. They have also reported violence from the hand of the extrajudicial police force who inflicts brutal beatings for suspected COIVD-19 victims.

China’s long list of failures was not limited to their faulty reporting and cover-up. Even their personal protective equipment was deemed unusable. In a report from The Economic Times of India, authorities claimed that 50,000 out of the 170,000 protection kits from China failed safety checks.

Another 40,000 kits were also deemed unusable. The media outlet reported that all of the kits were a part of donations from private donors, while kits that came from the Indian government had to go through safety standards before they were purchased and shipped.