Severe New Year Outbreak Overwhelms Hospitals, Death Reports Surge

At the start of 2025, a new virus outbreak has intensified. A children's hospital in Shanghai is overcrowded, causing widespread panic. (Video screenshot)

[People News] Due to economic downturn, Chinese citizens have been tightening their wallets during the New Year, avoiding unnecessary spending. Shopping malls across the country remain eerily quiet, and many netizens are calling this "the most cheerless New Year in history." At the same time, videos from various provinces and cities show hospitals packed with patients, with numerous netizens also posting news of their relatives passing away. The worsening outbreak has cast a shadow of unease, sadness, and sorrow over an already subdued New Year.

February 5, the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, marked the first official workday after the holiday. Netizens from Inner Mongolia, Henan, Anhui, Shaanxi, Hebei, Hunan, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Guizhou all reported that hospital lobbies were jam-packed, with respiratory departments, fever clinics, and laboratories overwhelmed. Many social media users also frequently posted news of loved ones passing away. Some remarked that hospitals were far busier than shopping malls before the holiday.

According to Dajiyuan, on February 6, a 120 emergency worker in Hohhot shared a video, stating that on the first workday after the holiday, Inner Mongolia Medical University Affiliated Hospital was completely overrun, particularly in gastroenterology and respiratory departments.

On February 5, Ms. Zhou, a mother from Henan, described the overwhelming crowds: "Where is the busiest place on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year? The Provincial People's Hospital has your answer. By 10 AM, more than 6,800 people had flooded the outpatient building—it was as packed as a dumpling pot!"

Similarly, Ms. Aze, a 90s-born resident of Anhui, visited Taihe County Hospital in Fuyang City on the same day and was shocked by the massive crowds. She sighed: "The hospital after the New Year is even more crowded than supermarkets before the holiday. Nothing is more important than having good health."

In Suzhou, Jiangsu, a health blogger tracking influenza A (H1N1) posted on February 6 that Hunan's provincial capital, Changsha, saw a sharp surge in cases, rising from 400,000 to 2 million in just two days.

Severe Outbreak During 2025 Chinese New Year Overwhelms Hospitals, Death Cases Surge (Video screenshot / Composite by Dajiyuan)

A Guangdong resident, "Qingfeng," shared: "My entire family got infected. It started with my younger brother showing symptoms and going to get medicine. The doctor said it was a virus, and that many people in our town had it, including my friends."

A Shandong netizen, "Liaocheng Humei Lai Le," recounted on February 4 that she witnessed two deaths within ten minutes while at a hospital during the New Year period: "I watched six or seven people go from talking, to feeling unwell, to being covered with a cloth. My legs went weak. My hair stood on end—seeing this made me realize that nothing else matters more than having good health. What's the point of life if we are constantly anxious and stressed? Happiness, joy, and health are what truly matter."

A Hebei resident, "Dapeng Zhanchi," reported on February 5 that after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage, he was admitted to the ICU at Hohhot Medical College Hospital for five to six days, where he personally witnessed eight to nine deaths. He expressed gratitude for still being alive.

Ms. Yang, from Yushe County, Shanxi, shared that in her small village, two people were buried the day before, and another one yesterday.

On February 5, a Shandong netizen, "Harbin Red Sausage," posted: "In just a few days during the New Year, three or four people I knew passed away." On the same day, a rural talent show livestreamer from Hebei, "Brother Dahai," revealed: "Before and after the New Year, three people from our village died."

Before the 2025 Chinese New Year, multiple strains of influenza broke out across China. While the Chinese National Health Commission (NHC) insisted that this was merely a seasonal flu surge, the public—having experienced the COVID-19 pandemic—is no longer blindly trusting official narratives. Many people have taken precautionary measures on their own. Healthcare workers on social media platforms have urged citizens to avoid crowded places during the holidays and to "weld their masks onto their faces" when going out.

Previously, China’s National Center for Disease Control and the NHC claimed that 99% of positive cases were Influenza A (H1N1).

However, a disease prevention expert in China told Dajiyuan that he doubted the government’s claim: "Many of the rapidly fatal cases in this outbreak are not from H1N1 as the government claims. It is very likely H5N1 avian influenza, which is already spreading." He further revealed that he has personally encountered over a hundred patients infected with H5N1.

Chinese affairs expert and former mainland doctor Tang Jingyuan analyzed in The Epoch Times that the CCP covers up and downplays the outbreak for two main reasons. One is the CCP's systemic habit of falsification—no matter how great a natural disaster or crisis occurs, it will always fabricate an illusion of peace and prosperity.

The other factor is closely related to the CCP's severe economic crisis. As the regime stands on the brink of an economic collapse, it is desperately trying to stimulate the economy at all costs. Regardless of whether this outbreak is COVID-19 or a highly pathogenic strain of avian flu, the CCP will do everything possible to cover it up. The goal is to deceive the world, attract investment, and ignore the safety of foreign businesses. But in doing so, it exposes its ruthless disregard for human life and its inherently evil nature.