Experts urge “not to press the panic button” due to pneumonia in China

Experts advising the World HEALTH Organization on covid-19 have urged waiting for more information after the WHO asked CHINA for more information about clusters of unknown pneumonia in children, NDTV reports.

Public health expert who advised the WHO on the pandemic, Brian McCloskey, explained that this is how the organization's International Health Regulations system works, which governs countries' cooperation with the WHO regarding potential outbreaks.

“I'm not going to hit the panic button about the pandemic based on what we know at this point, but I will be very interested to see the WHO response from China and the WHO's subsequent assessment,” McCloskey said.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the idiom “to press the panic button” means to do something quickly without thinking about it in order to cope with a difficult or alarming situation.

At the same time, a Dutch virologist who also advised the organization on CORONAVIRUS issues, Marion Koopmans, said that at the moment “more information is needed, especially diagnostic.”

The day before, WHO sent an official request to China to provide detailed information on the increase in respiratory diseases and outbreaks of pneumonia in children. The organization recalled that the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China reported an increase in the incidence of respiratory diseases in China on September 13. Then the Chinese authorities explained this by the lifting of anti-Covid restrictions and the circulation of known influenza viruses.

As a result, Chinese health authorities did not detect any unusual or new pathogens and provided requested data on an increase in respiratory diseases and reported outbreaks of pneumonia in children, the WHO reported on November 23.

The Telegraph reported on outbreaks of undiagnosed pneumonia in children in northern China, citing ProMed (which tracks outbreaks of human and animal diseases around the world). According to the publication, Chinese hospitals are “overloaded with sick children”, and the outbreak has already spread to major cities such as Beijing.