China has brought back masks and social distancing in a chilling echo of lockdown as they battle a mystery pneumonia outbreak four years after COVID.
As fears of a new pandemic spread around the world, disturbing footage of mask-wearing crowds inside Chinese hospitals has emerged.
Areas in the country’s north, such as Beijing and Liaoning, have been hit the hardest, with reports last week that hospitals are overflowing with sick children.
Parents are concerned about the pneumonia outbreak, also known as “white lung syndrome.”
Mycoplasma pneumoniae, a common bacterial infection, has been circulating since May but is now causing ground-glass opacity in lung scans, an indicator of severe respiratory illness.
Many parents are concerned about the disease, also known as “white lung syndrome,” and they are forced to wait at least a day for emergency care.
However, China maintains that flu and other common winter bugs are to blame for the latest outbreak, rather than a new virus, and that it can cope with the increase in sickness.
Local governments, on the other hand, are already being asked to open more fever clinics and promote vaccine uptake among children and the elderly.
“Efforts should be made to increase the opening of relevant clinics and treatment areas, extend service hours, and increase the supply of medicines,” said ministry spokesman Mi Feng.
He also advised people to wear masks and urged local authorities to focus on preventing illness spread in congested areas such as schools and nursing homes.
However, his statement comes after a Beijing children’s hospital told state television CCTV that at least 7,000 patients were admitted daily, far exceeding capacity.
It followed the largest pediatric hospital in nearby Tianjin, which reportedly served over 13,000 children.
WHO stated that no unusual or novel pathogens were found in the data provided by China
The alarming spread of illness comes as the country enters its first full winter season since the strict COVID-19 restrictions were lifted last December.
Professor Francois Balloux of the University College London Genetics Institute has blamed China’s strict lockdown on the “exit wave” sweeping the country.
While the United States and the United Kingdom experienced increases in infections such as RSV and flu after pandemic rules were lifted, China’s have been more severe.
Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) was forced to make a rare public intervention, formally requesting more information from Beijing on the infections.
However, the WHO stated that no unusual or novel pathogens were found in the data provided by China.
However, both China and the WHO have been accused of being opaque in their initial reports on the COVID pandemic.
It’s nearly four years since the first COVID-19 cases were discovered in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in the latter months of 2019.
There is currently insufficient information to properly assess the risk of these reported cases: WHO
And commentators have already pointed out how the wave of sickness resembled the reports that surfaced just prior to COVID, which China was accused of covering up.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has already stated that we must keep an “open mind” about the mystery of pneumonia’s cause.
According to internal Chinese reports, health officials have requested that children with less severe symptoms be taken to clinics and other facilities.
However, according to the WHO, there is currently insufficient information to properly assess the risk of these reported cases of respiratory illness in children.