Five years on from the first news of COVID, recent reports of an obscure respiratory virus in China may understandably raise concerns. Chinese authorities first issued warnings about human metapneumo

While cases are climbing in China, the situation is very different from what it was when Covid-19 emerged five years ago, medical experts say. HMPV is common and decades old.

The pictures emerging are arresting: a hospital waiting room in Beijing, full of masked patients apparently attached to drips; crowds of mask-wearing commuters making their way through the city. If it all seems unnervingly familiar,

Posts have flooded social media warning that a new pandemic could be starting in China. Here's why scientists think those fears might be overblown.