More sudden deaths have been reported in northern and eastern China as a pneumonia outbreak sweeps across 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 COVID-19 pandemic, especially the data regarding deaths. At the end of 2023, authorities claimed that respiratory diseases were trending downward.
However, recent media reports and a large number of posts on social media show that hospitals across the country continue to be overcrowded. 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, including among celebrities, have been noted amid the pneumonia-like outbreak.
Mr. Huang, a resident of Xingtai in Hebei Province, told The Epoch Times on Dec. 30 that many people are infected.
“My child is also having a fever and coughing,” he said. “When we go to the hospital for treatment, it’s still overcrowded.”
Mr. Huang said that more and more people whom he knows have been dying.
“Several young people around us died suddenly,” he said. “One was in his 40s, one was in his 50s, and one was in his 30s.
“They were usually healthy.”
Also in Hebei Province, Mr. Zhang, who lives in Baoding, said that two members of his family were among the many people whom he knows who died of a pneumonia-like illness in the city where he lives.
He said that neither of his two relatives had underlying diseases.
Mr. Zhang believes that they were infected with COVID-19 based on their symptoms but said that “the hospital doesn’t clearly state the cause of death.”
Mr. Wen, a medical worker in Jiangsu Province in eastern China, said that many people, including some whom he knew, have died suddenly in the outbreak.
They usually had no physical problems, underlying diseases, or obvious symptoms, he said.
“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’s related to the COVID-19 vaccine,” Mr. Wen said.
This wave of pneumonia started to be noticed in China in September, when it was spreading 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, RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), rhinovirus, and other respiratory infections, while downplaying or avoiding any mention of COVID-19.
However, the public isn’t convinced that the outbreak is unrelated to COVID-19, as the ill are experiencing the same symptoms.
COVID-19 was originally called “Wuhan pneumonia” because of 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 in Shandong Province, told The Epoch Times that he believes the COVID-19 pandemic has never stopped based on information that he was given by someone whom he trusts.
“This wave of the outbreak is actually 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 have developed white lungs, so they went to hospitals to have their lungs washed, which isn’t very effective.
“It is almost impossible to save those who get white lungs,” he said. “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.”
Mr. Qi said that two of his colleagues, who were in their early to mid-50s and usually healthy, have died suddenly.
“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 have 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; he was gone by noon.”
In recent months, every household has had someone who has been infected with pneumonia, Mr. Chen said.
Officials uniformly have said it was influenza, but everyone believes that it was actually COVID-19, he said.