More sudden deaths have been reported in north and east China as a pneumonia outbreak sweeps through the country, with claims made by some residents that the current outbreak is still COVID-19.
This comes as the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to withhold the truth about the pandemic, especially the data on deaths. At the end of 2023, authorities claimed that respiratory diseases were on a downward trend.
However, recent media reports and a large number of posts on social media show that hospitals across the country continue to be overcrowded. Amidst this, many patients, both children and adults, are exhibiting severe symptoms such as “white lungs”, which is typical of lung damage and pulmonary fibrosis seen in severe COVID-19 cases.
An increasing number of sudden deaths have been noted, including celebrities amid the pneumonia outbreak.
Mr. Huang, a resident of Xingtai City of Hebei Province in north China, told The Epoch Times on Dec. 30 that many people are infected.
“My child is also having a fever and coughing. When we go to the hospital for treatment, it’s still overcrowded,” he said.
Mr. Huang said that more and more people who he knows have been dying.
“Several young people around us died suddenly. One was in his 40s, one was in his 50s, and one was in his 30s. They were usually healthy,” he said.
Also, in Hebei Province, Mr. Zhang said that two members of his family were among the many people he knows who died of a pneumonia-like illness in Baoding City, where he lives.
Mr. Zhang said that neither of his two relatives had underlying diseases.
He believed that those who have been ill were infected with COVID-19 based on the symptoms, but “the hospital doesn’t clearly state the cause of death.”
Mr. Wen, a medical worker in Jiangsu Province in east China, said that many people have died suddenly in the outbreak, including some he knew.
He also said they usually had no physical problems, underlying diseases, or obvious symptoms.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic over the past three years, the government forced people to get vaccinated, and almost everyone took it. Therefore, when people die suddenly, everyone definitely thinks that it is related to the COVID-19 vaccine,” Mr. Wen said.
This wave of pneumonia started to be noticed spreading in China in September, mostly among children. It spiked in mid-October and further worsened in November, spreading to other age groups while continuing to sweep across the country.
Chinese authorities have attributed the outbreak to cross-infections of influenza, mycoplasma pneumonia, respiratory syncytial virus, rhinovirus, and other respiratory infections while downplaying or avoiding any mention of COVID-19.
However, the public is not convinced that the outbreak is unrelated to COVID-19, as the symptoms are the same.
COVID-19 was originally called “Wuhan pneumonia” due to its symptoms and origin when it first broke out in Wuhan, a city in Hubei Province, in late 2019.
Mr. Qi, a resident of Zibo City, Shandong Province, told The Epoch Times he believes the COVID-19 pandemic has never stopped based on information he was given by someone he trusts.
“This wave of the outbreak is actually the COVID-19. The parents [of his source] are both in the military and are close to the upper echelons of the CCP, in a major military command,” he said.
“He does not recommend taking COVID-19 vaccines or PCR tests. He has never taken a nucleic acid test nor been vaccinated.”
Mr. Qi said that many children have been infected in the outbreak and developed white lungs, so they went to hospitals to have their lungs washed, which is not very effective.
“It is almost impossible to save those who get white lungs. If you are young and can survive it, your health will be significantly reduced compared to before, which is quite tragic. There are a lot of people who have developed white lungs. I heard that the ratio is very high in Tianjin and Beijing.”
He said that a couple of his colleagues died suddenly. They were between 50 and 55 years old and usually healthy.
“Nowadays, many middle-aged people die suddenly,” he said.
Mr. Chen, a resident of Heze in Shandong Province, said that many people in their 40s and 50s died in his county.
“I know of four or five,” he said. “They had no underlying diseases and died in their sleep. One of them was infected and was at home in the morning. He was sleeping and his wife went to work, and he was gone by noon.”
He added that in recent months, every household has someone who has been infected with pneumonia. Officials uniformly said it was influenza, but everyone believes that it was actually COVID-19, he said.
Fang Xiao and Xiong Bin contributed to the report.