UK health chiefs monitoring China’s mystery pneumonia outbreak
UK health bosses are keeping an ‘open mind’ about the cause of a mystery pneumonia outbreak in China despite Beijing insisting a new virus is not to blame.
The comment, from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), comes after worrying images of Chinese hospitals packed with children and their worried parents have sparked alarm across the globe.
Beijing has sought to downplay fears, telling a World Health Organization (WHO) probe that no new pathogen was responsible.
The WHO has received an official response from China following its request for detailed information on an increase in respiratory illnesses and reported clusters of pneumonia in children,’ she said.
‘We need to keep an open mind about the cause of any increased reporting of clusters of disease including of this illness in Chinese children.’
She added that UKHSA is ‘closely monitoring the situation’ and will ‘respond as more information becomes available’.
It will continue international monitoring work to detect potential infectious threats to the UK and will work with global partners to ‘understand the current epidemiology’.
Dame Jenny’s comments come amid concerns that China is not being honest about the outbreak, considering its track record.
Beijing has previously been criticised for a lack of transparency over cases of Covid in 2019, shortly before the virus swept the world.