US GOP Senators Marco Rubio and JD Vance submitted a letter to President Joe Biden Friday calling for the White House to implement a travel ban from China. The senators sounded the alarm on the new 'mysterious' pneumonia circulating in Chinese schools and hospitals, which saw a sharp increase in cases last week after first being discovered in mid-October — while pointing out China’s “long history of lying about public health crises.”“In light of an unknown respiratory illness spreading throughout the People’s Republic of China (PRC), we call on you to immediately restrict travel between the US and the PRC,” the letter states. “During the Covid-19 pandemic, the China Communist Party’s (CCP) obfuscation of the truth and lack of transparency, robbed the US of vital knowledge about the disease and its origin.” Rubio and Vance cite former president Donald Trump’s January 31, 2020 issue of a travel ban in their letter. Trump’s ban was to “protect the American people and counter the spread,” but “many officials and commentators — including you [Biden] — criticized his decision” by calling it “xenophobia.” “But history and common sense show his was the right one.” .“At this moment, the world faces another unknown pathogen emanating from the PRC that could spread to other countries,” the letter continues. “This illness reportedly is a special hazard for children and has overrun hospitals.” “CCP has an incentive to lie, just as they did throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and any new pathogen could derail its efforts to stimulate its economy.” The senators further point to requests from the World Health Organization (WHO) to the CCP, asking for “detailed information,” but state it’s best to not wait on the organization to “take action given its track record of slavish deference to the CCP.’’“We must take necessary steps to protect the health of Americans and our economy,” the letter concludes. “That means we should immediately restrict travel between the United States and PRC until we know more about the dangers posed by this new illness.” “A ban on travel now could save our country from death, lockdowns, mandates and further outbreaks later.” Ohio has already been hit by a substantial enough number of child respiratory illnesses to call it an “outbreak,” according to the New York Post, with a large uptick in Massachusetts and some parts of Europe. Ohio’s Warren County Health District has 142 cases of pneumonia in children recorded in the last three months, which is above the national average and has seen the illness spread across several school districts. The average age of a person to get the illness is eight. .In a press release, state doctors called the pattern “rather a large uptick in the number of pneumonia cases normally seen at one time,” but “not uncommon.”“The information was shared so that individuals would be aware of illness in the community and take necessary steps to protect their health,” the press release said. “It is not uncommon for respiratory illnesses to spread in the community during this time of year.”Massachusetts medical professionals are not yet ready to substantiate fears of a new mystery virus circulating in the US either.Redwood Pediatrics Dr. John Kelly in East Longmeadow told Western Mass News this is the season for respiratory illnesses and though the state is “seeing a whole lot of it,” it is not uncommon. (There are ) a lot of kids with upper viral respiratory infections, cough, runny nose, some fevers,” Kelly said. “And the thinking with Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is that it can cause lower viral respiratory infections, so they get spread to your lungs.”However, “there are no medications to give to cure” such an illness, Kelly said. “Once you have it, it’s all supportive care.”
US GOP Senators Marco Rubio and JD Vance submitted a letter to President Joe Biden Friday calling for the White House to implement a travel ban from China. The senators sounded the alarm on the new 'mysterious' pneumonia circulating in Chinese schools and hospitals, which saw a sharp increase in cases last week after first being discovered in mid-October — while pointing out China’s “long history of lying about public health crises.”“In light of an unknown respiratory illness spreading throughout the People’s Republic of China (PRC), we call on you to immediately restrict travel between the US and the PRC,” the letter states. “During the Covid-19 pandemic, the China Communist Party’s (CCP) obfuscation of the truth and lack of transparency, robbed the US of vital knowledge about the disease and its origin.” Rubio and Vance cite former president Donald Trump’s January 31, 2020 issue of a travel ban in their letter. Trump’s ban was to “protect the American people and counter the spread,” but “many officials and commentators — including you [Biden] — criticized his decision” by calling it “xenophobia.” “But history and common sense show his was the right one.” .“At this moment, the world faces another unknown pathogen emanating from the PRC that could spread to other countries,” the letter continues. “This illness reportedly is a special hazard for children and has overrun hospitals.” “CCP has an incentive to lie, just as they did throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and any new pathogen could derail its efforts to stimulate its economy.” The senators further point to requests from the World Health Organization (WHO) to the CCP, asking for “detailed information,” but state it’s best to not wait on the organization to “take action given its track record of slavish deference to the CCP.’’“We must take necessary steps to protect the health of Americans and our economy,” the letter concludes. “That means we should immediately restrict travel between the United States and PRC until we know more about the dangers posed by this new illness.” “A ban on travel now could save our country from death, lockdowns, mandates and further outbreaks later.” Ohio has already been hit by a substantial enough number of child respiratory illnesses to call it an “outbreak,” according to the New York Post, with a large uptick in Massachusetts and some parts of Europe. Ohio’s Warren County Health District has 142 cases of pneumonia in children recorded in the last three months, which is above the national average and has seen the illness spread across several school districts. The average age of a person to get the illness is eight. .In a press release, state doctors called the pattern “rather a large uptick in the number of pneumonia cases normally seen at one time,” but “not uncommon.”“The information was shared so that individuals would be aware of illness in the community and take necessary steps to protect their health,” the press release said. “It is not uncommon for respiratory illnesses to spread in the community during this time of year.”Massachusetts medical professionals are not yet ready to substantiate fears of a new mystery virus circulating in the US either.Redwood Pediatrics Dr. John Kelly in East Longmeadow told Western Mass News this is the season for respiratory illnesses and though the state is “seeing a whole lot of it,” it is not uncommon. (There are ) a lot of kids with upper viral respiratory infections, cough, runny nose, some fevers,” Kelly said. “And the thinking with Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is that it can cause lower viral respiratory infections, so they get spread to your lungs.”However, “there are no medications to give to cure” such an illness, Kelly said. “Once you have it, it’s all supportive care.”
