A group of Republican senators have called on the US to “immediately” ban travel from China amid a childhood pneumonia outbreak that is overwhelming hospitals.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio said President Joe Biden must “take the necessary steps to protect the health of Americans,” after DailyMail.com revealed some parts of the US are also seeing a rise in cases.
“That means we must immediately restrict travel between the United States and the People's Republic of China until we know more about the dangers of this new disease,” he added.
“A travel ban now could save our country from deaths, lockdowns, mandates and further outbreaks later.”
Senator Rubio and four other Republican senators – including JD Vance of Ohio and Rick Scott of Florida – called for the ban in a letter to the White House today.
But data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) strongly suggests that the outbreak in China is caused by mycoplasma, a bacterial infection that flares up every few years, and seasonal illnesses such as RSV and influenza.
Children and their parents wait in an outpatient clinic at a children's hospital in Beijing as the city's hospitals are flooded with cases of a new virus
The letter said China had an “incentive to lie” about the severity of the outbreak to protect “its economy.”
“As you know, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has a long history of lying about public health crises,” the letter reads.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, the CCP's obfuscation of the truth and lack of transparency have deprived the United States of vital knowledge about the disease and its origins.
“On January 31, 2020, President Trump issued an order restricting travel from the PRC to the United States to protect the American people and prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“Many officials and commentators – including you – have criticized his decision as influenced by 'xenophobia'. But history and common sense show that his decision was the right one.”
Scenes of crowds of mask-wearing patients in hospitals and workers clad in protective gear spraying disinfectant through schools and streets in China in recent weeks bore chilling similarities to the earliest days of Covid.
But CDC Director Mandy Cohen said Thursday that while the infections are causing some flashbacks to the early days of the Covid pandemic, her agency is confident they are caused by known pathogens.
“We believe there is no new or emerging pathogen,” Cohen told House lawmakers.
“These are linked to existing pathogens – COVID, flu, RSV” and mycoplasma, a bacteria that can infect the lungs.