WHO Recommends Masks, Social Distancing In China Amid Mystery Pneumonia Outbreak
The World Health Organization (WHO) is recommending that people in China wear masks, socially distance and stay home if they're unwell, as cases of an 'undiagnosed pneumonia' has been detected in hospitals in Beijing and Liaoning - located roughly 500 miles northeast of the capital.
According to reports, healthcare facilities are "overwhelmed" with sick children, whose schools are on the verge of suspending classes. Meanwhile, the situation prompted an alert from ProMed, the disease surveillance system which similarly sounded the alarm when COVID-19 was an emerging mystery infection in Wuhan towards the end of 2019.
The WHO, which of course helped China cover-up during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, says 'no unusual or novel' pathogens have been detected, Reuters reports.
The State Council said influenza would peak this winter and spring and mycoplasma pneumoniae infection would continue to be high in some areas in future. It also warned of the risk of a rebound in COVID infections.
"All localities should strengthen information reporting on infectious diseases to ensure information is reported in a timely and accurate manner," the State Council said in a statement.
The situation came into the spotlight this week when the WHO asked China for more information, citing a report by the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED) on clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children.
Both China and the WHO have faced questions about the transparency of reporting on the earliest COVID-19 cases that emerged in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019.
Since the beginning of October, the Beijing CDC says that more than 3,500 cases of "respiratory infection" had been admitted into the Beijing's Children's Hospital, Radio Free Asia (funded by the US State Department) reported.
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