On November 11, the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases, an alert system by the International Society for Infectious Diseases, warned of an “outbreak of pneumonia” emptying schools and filling hospitals.“With the outbreak of pneumonia in China, children's hospitals in Beijing, Liaoning and other places were overwhelmed with sick children and schools and classes were on the verge of suspension. Parents questioned whether the authorities were covering up the epidemic,” the ProMED report explained.In Beijing, a Mr. W. said, "Many, many are hospitalized. They don't cough and have no symptoms. They just have a high temperature and many develop pulmonary nodules."The report also said the lobby of Dalian Children's Hospital in Liaoning Province is full of sick children receiving intravenous drips, with many people lined up at traditional Chinese medicine hospitals and the central hospitals.A staff member of Dalian Central Hospital said, "Patients have to wait in line for two hours and we are all in the emergency department and there are no general outpatient clinics."“Since China stopped adhering to the ‘zero’ policy at the beginning of the year, epidemics such as influenza, mycoplasma and bronchopneumonia have broken out from time to time,” explained the ProMED report.On November 13, Chinese authorities from the National Health Commission held a press conference on the uptick of respiratory disease cases. Authorities blamed the problems on lifting the zero policy and the spread of pathogens such as influenza, mycoplasma pneumoniae, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and SARS-CoV-2 (which causes COVID-19). Officials called for better health care capacity and enhanced disease surveillance.The World Health Organization followed up with a press release saying WHO had requested more information from China on “clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children in northern China,” adding, “It is unclear if these are associated with the overall increase in respiratory infections previously reported by Chinese authorities or separate events.”WHO also said this was the worst period of “influenza-like illness” that China had in three years. They advised vaccination, social distancing, testing, seeking care, isolating oneself if sick, good ventilation and good hygiene.Media outlets raised worldwide alarm on the outbreak. Business Insider warned on November 23, “So many kids are falling sick in China that a children’s hospital said it saw 13,000 cases in a single day.” On November 24, CNN warned, “Beijing hospitals overwhelmed with possible COVID surge in respiratory illnesses among children.” A November 24 Reuters' article carried the title “‘Disturbingly similar’ message out of China over mystery illness overwhelming hospitals.” A November 26 Reuters' article said, “China ministry seeks more fever clinics to combat respiratory illness surge.” Al Jazeera asked, “What is the mysterious pneumonia outbreak in China?”On Substack, mRNA vaccine pioneer Robert Malone called himself a “cynic” on such reports, calling them “another infectious disease clickbait opportunity” put forward by “pharma-sponsored corporate media outlets and ‘journalists’ posing as infectious disease specialists’...spreading and amplifying fear for profit.“This nicely fed the meme that China is a huge, mysterious source of threatening respiratory pathogens which will sweep the world and kill children.”Malone quoted famed scientist Marie Curie who said, “Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood,” then explained what mycoplasma was: a “walking pneumonia,” “an interesting parasitic organism, somewhere between [a] virus and bacteria,” since, unlike bacteria, mycrolasma can’t grow without benefitting from a host. An article on mycoplasma pneumonia, published in “Stat Pearls” by authors Basma Abdulhadi and John Kiel, said about 1% of Americans are infected annually and only five to ten percent of those people go on to develop pneumonia. Sickness is more likely to develop in those over 40 years of age or under five.Malone, who authored the book, Lies My Government Told Me, said one is more likely to fall sick in winter or when under “high stress.” The result is a loss of energy. “There is no vaccine for mycoplasma; many including myself are repeatedly infected, suggesting that the pathogen has evolved to evade ‘natural immunity’ to some extent. There is no current unmet medical need for a vaccine since the disease responds well to antibiotics,” he wrote.As a scientist Malone said he developed cultures of mycoplasma pneumonia regularly and with great caution because of how infectious it was. The WHO pandemic accord calls for nations to develop genome labs and share pathogens with other countries to ensure 'equity' in access to disease science.Malone praised a Bloomberg article, also carried in Time, for its accurate, even-handed reporting, while slamming the rest.“[I]s this outbreak they feared final WEF/WHO/CCP solution for depopulating the world and are we once again all going to die? Well, yes, it is a proven fact that we will all eventually die, although the transhumanist crowd is doing their best to overcome that limitation. But for the rest of us mere mortals, not from this particular outbreak in China, which indications suggest has already peaked,” he said.“I hope that this essay has provided some modicum of solace for those stressing out over this particular latest round of corporate media infectious disease fearporn." "I look forward to the next opportunity to debunk the nattering nabobs of negativism, and I acknowledge and thank Bloomberg News for acting with journalistic integrity.”
