China Says This New Outbreak Is Nothing to Worry About. How Can We Be Sure?

Children receive a drip on the stairs at a children’s hospital in Beijing on November 23, 2023. (Photo by Jade Gao/AFP via Getty Images)

Less than four years after Covid, as another respiratory illness spreads in China, we’ve learned nothing from the pandemic, writes Alina Chan.

By Alina Chan

12.06.23

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Two weeks ago, Taiwanese media reported an outbreak of pneumonia in several northern regions of China. 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.

These reports were immediately flagged by …

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