Hospitals in Beijing are overwhelmed with respiratory illnesses among children

Hospitals in Beijing and northern China are grappling with a sharp increase in the number of children with respiratory illnesses. The country is entering its first winter since strict Covid-19 controls were eased almost a year ago, CNN reported.
According to reports on Chinese state and social media, waiting times for a doctor's appointment have been going on for hours, with hundreds of patients lining up at some children's hospitals in major cities in northern China.
An official at Beijing Children's Hospital said the current more than 7,000 patients a day "far exceed the hospital's capacity." The largest pediatric hospital in the nearby city of Tianjin broke a record on Nov. 18, admitting more than 13,000 children to its outpatient and emergency departments.
"There are a lot of children here at the moment. Those who made an emergency appointment yesterday still haven't been able to see the doctor this morning," the hospital said.
Health authorities in Beijing and other major cities in northern China said the main causes were typical seasonal illnesses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), as well as mycoplasma pneumonia, a bacterial infection that usually causes a mild infection and often affects children. /BGNES