New HMPV virus outbreak in China overwhelms hospitals with patients
Footage of patients surging through hospitals in China has been seen online as a illness is said to have overwhelmed medics, with a spike in health woes now being investigated.
A disease outbreak has overwhelmed hospitals in China, officials have warned.
Videos on social media are showing hospital units overrun with patients affected by the illness, with many children coughing, held by parents wearing face coverings in long lines to the paediatric units. Unverified reports of overwhelmed crematoriums and funeral homes have also been shared.
Worrying scenes in China recently have been likened to the early days of the Coronavirus outbreak while local news stations in the country say a little-known virus could be behind a spike in health woes. Known as human metapneumovirus (HMPV), the illness causes a mild cold-like set of symptoms and could be behind the outbreak.
Funeral homes are allegedly overrun too
Officials are yet to confirm this but the situation has been compared to a similar moment in China back in winter 2022 when cases of "white lung" saw an increase. The mycoplasma pneumonia cases, while normally mild, spiked across the country and overran hospitals. That outbreak was blamed on children with low immune systems.
But a report from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has suggested a regular flu is leading this latest outbreak, with 30% of tests coming back positive for influenza. One in seven people have been hospitalised with a severe respiratory illness after testing positive.
The Chinese government and World Health Organization are yet to address the videos publicly, which are being widely circulated on social media, the Daily Mail reported. Chinese CDC officials warn multiple flu-like illnesses are on the rise, with suggestions that 7.2% of outpatient visits to local hospitals in northern provinces were due to a flu-like illness.
This was up 12 per cent on the previous week, and above the levels for the same week every flu season since 2021. Data for the southern part of the country suggested that 5.7 per cent of outpatient visits were due to flu-like illness. A farmer from the Hunan province, known as Mr Peng, was caught up in the surge to hospitals and says a series of colds and flus in the area has led to a spike.
Speaking to Aboluowang News, he said: "A lot of people have caught colds, and most of them have [illness]. About seven or eight people died this week in this area. Some were in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 40s." Funeral director Ms Wang also claimed there were long lines to her crematorium and suggested new furnaces were opened to deal with the increase in clients.
She said: "There are long lines for cremation now. Today, three VIP furnaces were opened. They were all burning and emitting a lot of smoke. It was terrible. If you don’t know about the crematorium, you would think it is selling New Year goods, just like holding a trade fair during the Chinese New Year."
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