A sharp surge in respiratory infections has been recorded in China. The WHO attributes this to the onset of cold weather and the late lifting of anti-covid restrictions in the country, UNN writes with reference to Euronews.
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According to the WHO, there is no need to worry, at least for now.
There are no "new or unusual" respiratory infections in China, according to the WHO, which asked Beijing for more information after alarming news that "clusters of unusual flu-like illnesses" have been found across the country.
In an interview with Euronews, Dr. Maria Van Kerckhove, WHO's interim director for epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, said that China has indeed seen a significant surge in the incidence of respiratory infections, mainly among schoolchildren. But this is due to two factors: diseases typical of the cold season and the late lifting of anti-covid restrictions in the country.
For the Chinese, this is the first autumn without such restrictions: the authorities abandoned them later than most other countries, in December last year, and gradually lifted them throughout 2023. Thus, now "China is going through what many countries went through a year or two ago": people are happy to take off their masks and easily catch the usual seasonal viruses, the WHO says.