The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed, through its official account on the “X” platform (formerly Twitter), that travel, tourism, and doing business are safe after the spread of media reports of an increase in cases of mysterious respiratory disease, especially among children, in China.
According to Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the ministry, traveling and conducting business in China is secure and there is no cause for concern. Feel confident about your visits and operations in China, as it is a safe and reliable destination.
#FMsays It is safe to travel and do business in China, there is no need to worry, FM spokesman Wang Wenbin said in response to a question that the recent increase of respiratory illnesses including pneumonia in children in China caused global concern about traveling to the… pic.twitter.com/5IRXKTGcfh
— China Daily (@ChinaDaily) November 28, 2023
He highlighted that the National Health Commission of China promptly responded to the World Health Organization’s request and held an early press conference on the ongoing situation. This demonstrates their proactive approach and commitment to transparency.
Disease Outbreak
China is once again on the world’s mind after the rapid spread of respiratory disease cases in recent weeks, which automatically brings to mind the crisis that the entire world has experienced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The issue of the increase in respiratory diseases became a global problem last week when the World Health Organization asked China to provide more information, pointing to a report issued by the Emerging Diseases Surveillance Program regarding children with pneumonia that has not yet been diagnosed.
The Chinese authorities attributed this increase in infections to the lifting of restrictions related to Covid-19 and the spread of known pathogens, including influenza, mycoplasma pneumonia, respiratory syncytial virus, and the Coronavirus. At the end of this November, several media outlets published reports of pneumonia spreading widely in northern China.
Hospitals in China are witnessing overcrowding with children infected with pneumonia. One children’s hospital in the Chinese city of Tianjin received more than 13,000 children infected with the disease, while Chinese media indicated that the number of patients exceeds the capacity of some hospitals.
The common bacterial infection among Chinese children is called Mycoplasma pneumoniae, which began to spread last May until it reached its peak during these days.
Chinese officials deny that the cause of the alarming rise in infection cases is a new, unknown virus, and it is likely that this is the result of regular seasonal diseases spreading as the country enters the first winter without restrictions on coronavirus infection.
For her part, a World Health Organization official said that the increase in cases of respiratory diseases that China is currently witnessing is not as large as it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, stressing that no new or unfamiliar pathogens have been discovered in recent cases of infection.
Maria Van Kerkhove, acting director of the Department of Epidemic Preparedness and Prevention at the World Health Organization, said that the increase in disease cases appears to be due to a rise in the number of children being infected with germs that cause diseases that they had avoided for two years due to preventive measures imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
A few days ago, Mi Feng, spokesman for the Chinese National Health Commission, said that the increase in acute respiratory diseases is linked to the simultaneous spread of several types of pathogens, most notably influenza.
