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There’s something ominous going on in China that has many similarities to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There’s an outbreak of a serious respiratory disease across several northern provinces of China. The reports are grim. “Footage showed crowds of masked parents and children at a hospital in Beijing. Sick children attached to intravenous drips filled the lobby of another hospital in Liaoning as they waited hours to see a doctor,” writes Alina Chan in The Free Press.
Eyewitness footage shows an overcrowded waiting area at Beijing Children’s Hospital as China grapples with a surge in respiratory illnesses in its first full winter since easing COVID-19 restrictions. https://t.co/GfBCLFckUP pic.twitter.com/uD88FwWYlw— ABC News (@ABC) November 27, 2023
Beijing schools have canceled classes. Doctors’ offices in the Chinese capital are reportedly overwhelmed. The signs point to a public health system being overwhelmed.
But don’t worry, the Communist Chinese are telling us. These are just cases of pneumonia combined with other bugs already present in the country.
In other words, this is not another novel virus.
So we’re told.
But the rest of the world is not so sure. China’s record of sharing accurate public health information with the world leaves a lot to be desired. That’s probably why the world is reacting to this outbreak the way it is.
