(Thompson Reuters/ CBC News) — The World Health Organization (WHO) has asked China for details on an increase in respiratory illnesses and reported clusters of pneumonia in children, which its China office on Thursday called a “routine” check.
Chinese authorities from the National Health Commission held a press conference on Nov. 13 to report an increase in incidence of respiratory disease.
Authorities attributed the increase to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions and the circulation of known pathogens such as influenza, mycoplasma pneumoniae, a common bacterial infection that typically affects younger children, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and the virus that causes COVID-19.
Both China and the WHO have faced questions about the transparency of reporting on the earliest COVID-19 cases that emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. (…)