Posts falsely link old photo to surge in pneumonia cases in China

This article is more than one year old.
Published on November 13, 2023 at 05:35
3 min read
By SHIM Kyu-Seok, AFP South Korea

As Chinese media reported a surge in mycoplasma pneumoniae infections in the country, Facebook posts shared a photo they falsely claimed showed shoppers rushing to buy face masks in wake of the outbreak. In fact, the picture shows Hong Kongers lining up to buy masks in February 2020, during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Rapid spread of mycoplasma pneumoniae in Communist China," reads a Facebook post written in Korean and shared on November 8.

"Another rush for masks has begun," it adds, showing a photo of a crowd of people apparently queueing to buy face masks.

Chinese state media reported a surge in cases of mycoplasma pneumoniae infections in hospitals across the country, primarily affecting younger children (archived link).

Mycoplasma pneumoniae bacteria commonly cause mild infections of the respiratory system, but can cause more serious lung infections that require hospitalisation, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (archived link).

There is currently no vaccine to protect against infections, which mostly occur in crowded settings, such as schools (archived link).

Screenshot of false post on Facebook

Identical claims were shared on Facebook here, here and here.

However, AFP found no news reports about consumers panic-buying masks following the surge in mycoplasma pneumoniae infections in China.

Moreover, the photo shared in Facebook posts is old. It shows shoppers in Hong Kong queueing to buy masks in February 2020 -- shortly after the outbreak of Covid-19 in China.

Mask rush in Hong Kong

Through a reverse image search on Google, AFP found the photo in a Reuters report published by Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun on February 7, 2020 (archived link).

The report is about Chinese manufacturers refitting production lines to make masks and medical clothing as Covid-19 cases surged.

The photo caption says it was taken by The Associated Press (AP) news agency. A search in AP's photo archives confirmed this (archived link).

Original photo published by the Associated Press in February 2020

The photo caption in AP's archives says: "Citizens line up to buy face masks in Hong Kong, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020."

"In Hong Kong, hospital workers are striking to demand the border with mainland China be shut completely to ward off the virus, but four new cases without known travel to the mainland indicate the illness is spreading locally in the territory."

Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo shared in false Facebook posts (left) and the AP's photo (right):

Studies by Chinese researchers in 2022 and early 2023 found face masks and other sanitary measures implemented to prevent the spread of coronavirus were also effective in reducing the spread of the mycoplasma pneumoniae, owing to their similar transmission patterns (archived links here and here).

The Chinese government ended its public mask mandate in April 2023, save for select high-risk locations such as hospitals or nursing homes, though health professionals and agencies continue to recommend public mask-wearing during flu season (archived link).

Hong Kong scrapped its mask mandate in March 2023, AFP reported.

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