That's not how China rolls. A friend of mine referred to China as the "Bridezilla" of nations and I darn near had an epiphany. It is so on point. China is OBSESSED with appearances. The government's reaction to bad news is that of a toddler getting a toy taken away. FFS, Xi threw a fit when someone compared him to Winnie the Pooh. . . one of the most universally beloved characters in media history. I'd love to be Pooh; I'm usually compared to far nastier things. Transparent fish have thicker skins than China.
As a result the whole gorram country is deliberately structured to sustain the fairyland. This is an oversimplification so I know I'm leaving myself open to Chinabot apologists accusing me of misunderstanding or mis-portraying the Great Fearless Country, but they can eat shit. Basically, low-level government workers (inspectors, supervisors, etc.) are essentially held responsible for whatever or whomever they're supposed to oversee. If not officially, the courts have no issues with patsies. So let's say you're an inspector for water quality. If your boss's boss takes a bribe to have toxic waste dumped into reservoir and thousands die, either you or someone you work with completely unconnected to the crime (like the reservoir maintenance folks who had no say in the matter or may have even protested at risk of getting arrested) will be accused, tried, found guilty, and sent to prison or even executed. So either you're scared to death for your own skin, or you can't bear the guilt of ruining a bunch of innocent people. And it's not like diligently reporting problems will get the government to give a rat's ass about whatever you're trying to report, in fact it'll get you punished and censored, so why even try? You either sell your soul and become a willing part of the machine, or you go to work stoned out of your mind while you wait for doom. This doctor was nothing less than heroic, but the whole system is so crazy that there can never be enough altruists to make a difference. They've succeeded in creating a very, very high threshold where someone can be compelled to action.
So of course the higher-ups never want to hear any bad news, because as often as not they knowingly cause it and their superiors don't want to hear it. The low-level guys have no incentive (outside of pure morality, which ain't enough for most people) to go public on stuff that they're very likely to be punished for. And since the virus threatened to disrupt the Chinese New Year, that's a lot of people making a lot of money by burying the bad news.
There was no way China's response was going to be anything other than the tragically comical shitfest of incompetence we all now have to deal with. Most of the Chinese acted out of completely logical self-preservation. What's insane is the government's institutionalization of delusion that makes pretending a pandemic doesn't exist a logical decision. Send your hugs and kisses to Bridezilla the Pooh.