Will Gov't 'fess up in a Pandemic?

I've been watching this bird flu thing pretty closely. As is somewhat typical, China and Vietnam are getting really iffy when it comes to reporting cases. We have no really clear idea of what is going on over there.

The tendency of governments to supress how serious the problem really is made me wonder.

Would our government cover it up if bird flu went pandemic? Wouldn't they try to shovel it under the carpet to keep people from panic (and keep themselves looking - well, not good, but you know what I mean)? The economic effects might be catastrophic, so they might want to hide it as long as possible for economic reasons (gotta cash in all their investments before the public finds out). They might be able to hide it for quite a while until we start seeing bodies carried away and can't get an appointment with the doctor.

So - do you think the government would 'fess up, or would they attempt to hide a pandemic? At what point do you think it would become so obvious that it couldn't be hidden anymore?

While I can appreciate the conspiracy theory aspects of your post, I feel that there would be too much noise regarding the illness becoming a pandemic. For example, while the government might want to keep something under wraps for your above stated reasons, the simple fact is there are far too many doctors, nurses, hospitals, etc., that would make noise regarding an epidemic. The sensationalism of our media would fan these flames into a nationwide uproar that would force the government to do something about the problem. And if the various medical personnel in the public sector are not enough of a factor for you, there is also the CDC that monitors all sorts of 'possible' pandemics. While yes, it is a government agency, they were one of the major players spreading education in the early days of such diseases as AIDS and Lyme's. It wouldn't take bodies to expose some sort of coverup, it would merely take large numbers of sick people, which we have yet to see.

the thing that worries me tho most about this issue is the lack of hosputal beds in this country.