Efforts underway to curb nationwide flu outbreaks among children

China is reinforcing its grassroots facilities to cope with the outbreak of seasonal respiratory illnesses among children, in a bid to ease the pressure on major hospitals at this time.

A number of children's hospitals in Beijing, Tianjin and other cities said they have been dealing with a surge in child patients affected by respiratory illnesses in recent weeks, with waiting times for an emergency hospital appointment stretching to three hours or more.

The National Health Commission said on Thursday in an interview with Xinhua News Agency that it has directed local health authorities to implement stratified care and instruct higher-level medical institutions to provide technical assistance to grassroots facilities, especially to improve their ability to diagnose and treat common infections, as well as increase their efficiency in identifying and transferring serious cases.