The World Health Organization (WHO) and the global pandemic surveillance system have issued statements to alert of an ‘undiagnosed pneumonia’ outbreak in China, saying there has been a reported epidemic of pneumonia in children across various regions in China due to the quick spread of respiratory infections, initially identified as “Mycoplasma pneumonia”. Many children have been infected with pneumonia since mid-October, having fever, and even developing white lung symptoms as seen from serious COVID-19 infections. Hospitals are being overwhelmed, with a large number of posts on Chinese social media about students falling ill and being unable to secure a doctor’s appointment due to there being too many sick children.
The situation in the hospitals throughout China is getting more serious, with the pediatric departments of hospitals in Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Shenyang, and other places already full. There are reports of restrictions on parents from speaking publicly about their troubles and deleted news of overcrowded hospitals from social media. People have been alleging that the Chinese authorities have been covering up new COVID-19 outbreaks and have been coming up with new names for these outbreaks to mask the reality.
Chinese people are alarmed by this outbreak. Many are hospitalized, showing serious symptoms of pulmonary nodules, and even some children passing away as the authorities remain silent. The general public are worried as the CCP has banned parents from speaking publicly about their troubles and has shown a history of covering up new COVID-19 outbreaks under different names.