1,000 people waiting at the hospital ↑...Furious at "concerns about the spread of HMPV from China"

[Anchor]
In China, the number of people infected with respiratory diseases in winter has increased rapidly, and the number of people waiting for treatment is more than 1,000.


The upcoming Lunar New Year population migration is at a critical juncture, and concerns about the spread of HMPV from China have also led to a head-on rebuttal from the authorities.

This is Beijing correspondent Kang Jeong-gyu.

[Reporter]
There was a queue at the hospital's emergency room.

There is a sign at the information counter that you have to wait at least three hours.

Even in the middle of the night, hospitals are nightly, and the number of people waiting past 1,000 shows no signs of decreasing.

[Chinese Wuhan resident: I think Wuhan is sick again. It's all people inside. The waiting number has exceeded 1,000 times.

The number of patients with acute respiratory diseases is increasing in China.

Flu treatments that are said to be effective with only one dose are in short supply and even transactions are made.

Western countries, including the United States, have raised concerns about the spread of HMPV infection from China as in the case of COVID-19.

Then, the Chinese authorities refuted this, saying that the intensity of this year's epidemic respiratory disease is lower than last year.

[Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Ja-kun (last 10th): Regarding the 'human metapneumovirus (HMPV)' you mentioned, I checked with the competent authorities and found out that this is not some 'new strain'. Exaggerating a common virus as an "unidentified virus" is a dangerous incitement that goes against scientific common sense.

But mistrust is growing, with the release of information still unclear and the news of a variant of the M.Fox cluster.

One foreigner with a history of residence in Congo, Africa, and four additional infections came from China.

In particular, the upcoming Lunar New Year is expected to be the biggest crisis in quarantine.

China's transportation authorities predict that 9 billion people will move before and after the Lunar New Year holiday this year.

I'm Kang Jeong-gyu from Beijing.