A reporter from Chinese state media CGTN has been panned for asking a basic question about the novel coronavirus at a press conference.

CGTN is the multi-language arm of state broadcaster CCTV.

Eye-roll

The reporter, Zhu Dan, introduced herself as being from CGTN, which immediately earned her an eye-roll from her fellow reporter -- perhaps because the state media is known to ask questions deemed to be politically safe.

The eye-roll was reminiscent of the one given by then-Chinese financial news site Yicai reporter Liang Xiangyi.

She then proceeded to direct a question to the speaker, who is a medical school dean, according to South China Morning Post reporter Alvin Lum.

Addressing him as "Professor Liao", she asked if he could give the public some "quick and simple" suggestions on preventing the virus or "reduce the chance" of getting infected.

The question elicited a silent exchange of looks between the two reporters sitting close to her, likely because the question has already been answered and reported several times since the outbreak of the virus in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

Was the question too basic?

The short clip -- part of a CGTN news segment -- was not well-received by internet commenters, who thought the question was too simple.

Some even thought the question was kept simple intentionally for a political agenda:

https://twitter.com/waisingrin/status/1219753424750669824

But there were still some who thought the question had its merit, for not everyone knew about the precautions to take to protect against the virus.

Is the question so stupid? For example, I don’t know if it’s spread through the air or if there are symptoms that one can recognise when encountering an infected person.

— Martin Chovanec (@chovanecm) January 21, 2020

Precautions to take for travellers to China

Singapore's Ministry of Health has issued an advisory telling the public to avoid travelling to Wuhan, and to adopt certain precautions should they travel to other parts of China.

For instance, the public is advised to include practicing good personal hygiene, avoiding crowded places and close contact with people who are unwell, and avoiding contact with live animals.

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Top image via CGTN