Despite the lack of an official proclamation, social media speculation about a state of emergency has been stoked by reports of a viral outbreak in China, including human metapneumovirus. Due to the possibility of worldwide transmission,

For the past few days, reports of a massive flu outbreak in China have been circulating abroad, particularly in India and Indonesia. Health officials, however, maintain the outbreak is an annual occurrence during the winter.

Several social media handles on X reported that due to circulation of multiple viruses including HMPV, Covid-19 and Mycoplasma pneumoniae, hospitals, crematoriums and other public health infrastructure was getting overwhelmed,