World

Mystery disease outbreak leaves hospitals overwhelmed in China: 'Long lines for cremation'


The world is holding its breath as unconfirmed reports suggest a mystery disease is ravaging China leading to overwhelmed hospitals and crematoriums.

China has long been identified as the source of the Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2) virus which went on to spark a global pandemic after the first human patients were discovered in the city of Wuhan in November 2019.

Around the world over seven million people died from Covid and in the UK the latest estimates are 208,000 people lost their lives to the disease.

Now unconfirmed local media reports from China are suggesting a new bug, thought to be connected to the human metapneumovirus (HMPV), is now causing severe and even deadly results.

Usually HMPV is similar to a mild cold, but according to the Mail Online lines of sick children and adults are now overwhelming the country’s healthcare system and deaths have been reported.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention suggests flu could be behind the soaring admissions and cases, similar to a sharp rise in cases in the UK.

But according to Aboluowang News, a US-based news provider covering China, a farmer from Hunan Province said people were dying from the outbreak.

Mr Peng told the news site: “A lot of people have caught colds, and most of them have [illness],’ he said in quotes translated to English. About seven or eight people died this week in this area. Some were in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 40s.”

Another person the news site said was a funeral director called Ms Wang, 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.”

And unverified images and videos shared on X appear to show large numbers of patients waiting for treatment inside hospitals in China.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) last month urged China to share more data five years after the outbreak of Covid-19.

In a statement the health body said: “We continue to call on China to share data and access so we can understand the origins of COVID-19.

“This is a moral and scientific imperative. Without transparency, sharing, and cooperation among countries, the world cannot adequately prevent and prepare for future epidemics and pandemics. “

WHO is yet to comment on the latest outbreak inside China.

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