During the Chinese New Year period in Mainland China, the severity of the epidemic has led to a widespread spread as people visit relatives and friends, causing overcrowding in major hospitals’ respiratory, fever clinics, and testing departments. During this time, news of deaths due to the epidemic spread on social media.
On February 5th, the first working day after the Chinese New Year, many patients found hospital lobbies packed to capacity, with hospitals more bustling than shopping malls before the holiday, resembling popular tourist spots.
A paramedic in Hohhot shared a video on February 6th, mentioning that on the first working day after the Chinese New Year, Inner Mongolia Medical University Affiliated Hospital was packed, especially the digestive and respiratory departments.
A mother in Henan, Miss Zhou, shared on February 5th that the Provincial People’s Hospital was extremely crowded on the eighth day of the lunar new year. By 10 am, over 6,800 people had entered the outpatient building, with the situation resembling a crowded dim sum place where each patient sought hope for health and life.
Another individual in Henan, Miss Yu, visited the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University on the eighth day of the lunar new year and was shocked to see a sea of people at the blood testing area. She questioned if they were there to get blood drawn.
On the same day, a netizen from Zhengzhou, “Sister Qiang,” was also shocked by the overcrowded blood testing area at the First Affiliated Hospital.
Local media reported that after the Chinese New Year, Zhengzhou First Affiliated Hospital saw a peak in patient visits with 43,513 outpatient appointments on the sixth day of the lunar new year. The hospital opened its doors at 4:30 am to accommodate the patients lining up outside to avoid the cold.
A mother from Anhui, born in the 90s, visited the Taihe County Hospital in Fuyang City on the eighth day of the lunar new year and was astonished by the overcrowded scene, emphasizing the importance of health over everything else during the festive season.
These instances of overwhelming crowds and severe illnesses during the Lunar New Year raised concerns among netizens about the state of public health and the seriousness of the ongoing epidemic.
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