In recent weeks, scenes of hospitals in China overrun with masked people have made their rounds on social media, sparking worries of another pandemic.
Beijing has since acknowledged a surge in cases of the flu-like human metapneumovirus (HMPV), especially among children, and it attributed this to a seasonal spike.
But HMPV is not like Covid-19, public health experts have said, noting that the virus has been around for decades, with almost every child being infected by their fifth birthday.
Comments