COVID-19 News! Something Is Not Right About China’s Mysterious Pneumonia Outbreak! Taiwan Issues Travel Advisory And So Are Other Many Countries!
Patrick Llyod Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Dec 02, 2023 11 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 11 hours, 15 minutes ago
COVID-19 News: While China has made claims to international media and also reported to the WHO that the current mysterious pneumonia crisis in the country is not due to the emergence of any novel pathogens and are simply due to an increased of various normal pathogenic respiratory infections including RSV, Flu, Mycoplasma Pneumoniae and also SARS-CoV-2 and that it has the situation under control, local doctors and researchers are warning that the situation is far from being under control. Unlike earlier reports that claimed that it was mostly pediatric patients that were inundating hospitals, current emerging data shows that people of various age groups were getting sick and developing severe respiratory infections with majority needing hospitalizations. Across various provinces in China, hospitals and healthcare staff are overwhelmed with long queues of sick individuals needing treatment.
The situation is far worse that when the SARS-CoV-2 first emerged in Wuhan and affected neighboring provinces. This time round, literally every province in China is witnessing the high rates of respiratory infections with many individuals developing “white lungs” syndrome, breathing difficulties, extreme fatigue and chest discomfort along with persistent coughs, fevers and body chills and also body pain.
Interestingly, standard diagnostics are not being conducted in the various hospitals in China and all PCR test results are being strictly controlled and doctors are simply treating symptoms.
There are speculations that the Chinese authorities are aware that a new pathogen is at play…perhaps a new SARS-CoV-2 sub-lineage or new reassortant strain etc.
The only thing that is very apparent is that this time round, the Chinese government has managed to effectively control all media and social media coverages on the unfolding crisis and all data from hospitals and clinics are tightly controlled. No healthcare staff are also allowed to speak to any foreign media without prior government approval and can do so only in the presence of an authorized government official.
There are no local
COVID-19 News coverages detailing what is happening in China and local media are only mentioning about a surge of cold infections and are asking all citizens to take preventive measures or to seek treatment at nearby hospitals or healthcare centers. A number of makeshift “Cold Clinics” have also been set up in various provinces and cities to cater to the growing numbers of sick individuals.
It was reported that not only are supplemental oxygen supplies starting to once again become a scarce commodity, but there is also a growing shortage of drugs including various antibiotics, antifungals and NSAIDs.
Meanwhile, due to growing concerns, Taiwan has issued a travel advisory against travel to China by elderly and young Taiwanese travelers and is likely to raise that to a higher travel alert or travel ban in coming days.
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taiwan-urges-elderly-young-avoid-china-visits
-due-respiratory-illnesses-2023-11-30/
Senators in the United States are also lobbying for an urgent travel ban to and from China with immediate effect.
https://www.reuters.com/world/five-senators-ask-biden-impose-china-travel-ban-after-respiratory-illness-cases-2023-12-01/
Numerous other countries from Europe and Asia are also in the midst of issuing travel advisories or imposing travel bans to and from China.
It was speculated that some countries are even considering including Thailand in their travel advisories as Thailand is the only country in the world that is actually going all the way out to woo Chinese travelers as it is desperate for revenue from Chinese tourism but at the same time is not very transparent about the COVID-19 situation in the country and also about the rising cases of respiratory infections and pneumonia. At present, thousands of Chinese travelers are visiting Thailand compared to any other destinations as Thailand has relaxed almost all health screenings measures and even visa regulations for Chinese tourists! While there is no reliable and trustworthy data on the situation in Thailand at the moment with regards to COVID-19 and other respiratory infections, some private hospitals are noting an increase in admissions due to respiratory infections but are not willing to divulge more data due to fear of backlash from state officials.
One thing is for sure, China should be more transparent and should even allow WHO teams to assess the current situation and for them to do their own investigations to really determine what is causing such a crisis in China at the moment.
We at Thailand
Medical News are not convinced that RSV or Mycoplasma Pneumoniae are driving the current crisis in China, not even new strains of these pathogens. Rather we speculate that a new reassortant variant of SARS-CoV-2 is likely at play.
For the latest
COVID-19 News, keep on logging to Thailand Medical News.
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