Any Moment Could Be Your Last”: Sudden Driver Collapses on the Rise in China

The pandemic situation in mainland China is severe. COVID-19, also known as the CCP virus, is rampant, and hospitals are overwhelmed with crowds. Recently, numerous posts on mainland Chinese social media platforms show that more and more people are suddenly collapsing in public, while sudden death incidents among ride-hailing and truck drivers are becoming increasingly frequent. One mainland netizen lamented, Nowadays, it's not about waiting until you're old to die. One could pass away at any time, anywhere. Sudden deaths among ride-hailing and truck drivers are on the rise. Mainland Douyin blogger Kai Chengkai recently posted a video saying, Three days. Within just three days, five truck drivers have died. He noted that four of them collapsed right at the steering wheel and lost consciousness. All were sudden deaths, with an average age of under 40. On May 20, Kai Chengkai posted another video saying, Another trucker has fallen. The footage shows a seemingly unconscious, middle-aged man being carried off a truck by several people. According to Kai, by rough estimates, around 300 truck drivers have died suddenly in 2024. Douyin blogger, ride-hailing female driver Meng Meng, expressed her frustration on April 11. Ride-hailing fares keep dropping, and the number of drivers dying suddenly keeps rising. We're just trying to feed our families. What have we done wrong? These tragedies are breaking the hearts of countless ride-hailing drivers. Netizens react, Not just the elderly. You can die anytime, anywhere. Regarding the frequent sudden deaths of ride-hailing and truck drivers, in comment sections under related topics, some netizens believe the drivers died from exhaustion. Others suspect it's due to side effects after the injection, while some attribute it to the virus itself. A netizen from Heilongjiang wrote, My friend runs a funeral home and crematorium. He said that in the past few years, there's been a noticeable increase in deaths, not just among the elderly, but young people too. He's a tough guy, yet he often can't hold back tears. A netizen from Sichuan said, It seems that many people who died this year were in their 30s or 40s. I find it strange too. These days I sometimes feel palpitations, shortness of breath and dizziness. A netizen from Shanxi shared, My cousin was only in her early 30s and passed away in her sleep without any signs or prior illness. She had no underlying health conditions and was full of energy. She went to sleep and never woke up. Mainland netizens left comments expressing sorrow and shock. Several people I know born in the 70s have already passed away. A friend who's a doctor said at dinner today that more people in their 20s and 30s are dying now. After the COVID outbreak, sudden cardiac deaths have increased, especially among young people. It's COVID. Now, you don't wait until old age to die. You can die anytime, anywhere. Hospitals in many parts of mainland China are overcrowded. A large number of videos on the mainland Chinese platform Douyin show that hospitals in many regions have recently been packed with people. Dr. Blogger, pediatrician Orange, reminded in a video that recently there has indeed been a rise in patients with sore throats, fevers and coughs. After all, it's a virus. Everyone must be cautious. Another doctor blogger, director Who Talks Health, also released a video warning that COVID-19 is active again and patient numbers are surging. Douyin blogger World Peace posted a video titled Hospitals Overcrowded on May 14th, in which he exclaimed, Why is it that hospitals all over the world don't make money, but only hospitals in China do? Because once hospitals are commercialized, their goal is no longer to cure patients, but to make as much money as possible from them. Many netizens responded with comments like, Well said and exactly right. According to data from the Chinese CDC, in the 18th week, from late April to early May, the COVID-19 positivity rate among flu-like cases in national sentinel hospitals rose to 16.2 percent, more than doubling from 7.5 percent in early April. Among hospitalized patients with severe acute respiratory infections, the COVID-19 positivity rate also increased from 3.3 percent to 6.3 percent by early May. Furthermore, for three consecutive weeks, COVID-19 has ranked first among outpatient flu-like illnesses. Mainland China faces a new wave of new variant infections as hospitals continue to be overwhelmed. The epidemic in mainland China is becoming more complicated, with many new variants of COVID-19 spreading in the country. Recently, some Chinese Communist Party officials have also admitted that the epidemic caused by the new coronavirus strain has broken out again in many places. Hospitals are overcrowded, and epidemic prevention drugs are in high demand in many areas in the south. People revealed that this virus is very powerful, and many young people have passed away suddenly. Many people suddenly collapsed and passed away while walking, and some never woke up after going to sleep, even though they were still very young. At the same time, the number of people who passed away from the new coronavirus in Hong Kong has increased tenfold compared with two months ago. Meanwhile, neighboring countries of China in Southeast Asia, such as Thailand and Singapore, have recorded a high number of people infected with the new variant, with dozens passing away every day. Chinese blogger Recently, many people have found that there are more people coughing and with fever around them, and the new coronavirus has quietly risen again. On May 16, the topic of the new coronavirus infection is rising again in mainland China became a hot search on the internet. According to Li Dongzheng, chief physician of the Department of Infection Comprehensive Department of Beijing Yuan Hospital, affiliated with Capital Medical University, the number of outpatient visits and the positive rate of the new coronavirus have begun to increase since March. Many mainland people have posted videos saying that this wave of the virus is very powerful, and many people have symptoms such as fever, cold, sore throat, cough, etc., and the hospital is full again. Mainland Chinese I've been infected with the coronavirus again. Oh my god, my throat hurts, my nose is stuffy, I have a runny nose, and I cough. I feel like I can cough out my lungs with every cough. And today, my sense of taste and smell has decreased. I clearly feel that this coronavirus strain is very strong, so everyone should be careful. The Chaoyang District Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Beijing reported on May 12 that the current coronavirus activity in Chaoyang District is on the rise. Data released by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention on the 8th showed that within five weeks from March 31 to May 4, the national outpatient coronavirus positive rate rose from 7.5% to 16.2%. Among hospitalized severe respiratory cases, the coronavirus positive rate rose from 3.3% to 6.3%. The coronavirus positive rate in southern China is higher than in the north. The real data is unknown. In addition, the authorities still have not announced the number of confirmed cases or people who passed away. Dr. Lin Xiaoxu, an American virology expert, this data from the CDC can be said to have not told the public the very important extent of the current COVID-19 outbreak, but only mentioned a so-called increase in infection rate and detection rate. This detection rate has not been explained here. For example, whether the detection rate of the new coronavirus has increased by 16% among the three viruses or whether the detection of 10 respiratory viruses has increased to 16%, etc. Too much information has been omitted, so this is a very serious information concealment and misleading. According to the Hong Kong Health Department's report on the 15th in early April, Hong Kong recorded another 30 people who passed away from the new coronavirus in the past four weeks, which is 10 times that of February. In addition, people in many places in the mainland told NTD that recently, the epidemic in China has been raging, many young people have passed away suddenly, crematoriums and cemeteries have been expanded, and some rural cemeteries are saturated. The authorities are continuing to conceal the truth. Mr. An, a citizen of Shenzhen. There are many sudden deaths now of all ages, but more young people. I have seen several young people in their 20s and 30s who were not sick or had no symptoms, but suddenly collapsed. Ms. Zhang from Yuxi, Yunnan. The price of buying a cemetery has increased by several thousand yuan, tens of thousands of yuan. The number of people who passed away in recent years has increased compared to before the epidemic. The official said it was influenza A and then some virus infection. Anyway, they changed the name to fool the people. China's real estate crisis continues. China Fortune Land Development defaults on 23 billion yuan of debt. Amid the prolonged downturn in China's real estate sector, the debt crisis facing property developers has deepened. Among them, China Fortune Land Development recently announced that it has defaulted on 23 billion yuan in debt. Rongxiang Development is also mired in financial trouble, with more than 1.1 billion yuan in unpaid liabilities and multiple lawsuits looming. China Fortune Land Development 192.2 billion yuan in debt restructured, over 23 billion yuan still in default, according to the Debt Restructuring Progress Report released by China, Fortune Land Development Konadesh, Linedid. On the evening of May 16, as of April 30, 2025, the company had restructured 192.2 billion yuan in debt, over 23 billion yuan still in default, about 192.273 billion yuan out of its total 219.2 billion yuan in financial debt under the Debt Restructuring Plan, covering both domestic and foreign bonds as well as various financing instruments. However, despite this significant progress, China Fortune Land Development still faces massive unresolved debt. As of that date, the cumulative amount in default stood at 23.03 billion yuan, excluding interest, underscoring the immense pressure the company faces in debt repayment. In terms of cash flow, China Fortune Land Development and its subsidiaries added 350 million yuan in overdue debt in April, highlighting ongoing liquidity stress. Furthermore, several new arbitration and litigation cases totaling 1.419 billion yuan in claims have added further uncertainty to its future operations. The financial data paints a grim picture. The company reported a net loss attributable to the parent company of 4.817 billion yuan in 2024 and a further loss of 2.701 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2025. Losses are deepening, and a near-term recovery in profitability appears unlikely. In the current real estate climate, marked by high leverage risks, declining demand, and tightening regulatory oversight, China Fortune Land Development has made efforts to save itself. However, the likelihood of regaining profitability in the short term remains very slim. Rongsheng Development is in a quagmire, 1.1 billion yuan in new debts and over 1.3 billion yuan in lawsuits. China Fortune Land Development is not alone. The mounting debt crisis in China's property sector continues to spread. Another developer, Rongsheng Development, also revealed its precarious financial position on May 16. The announcement disclosed that Rongsheng's newly due unpaid debts totaled 1.105 billion yuan, including 665 million yuan in principal and interest on medium-term notes. On the legal front, Rongsheng Development is involved in two major lawsuits with Langfang Bank, with total claims exceeding 200 million yuan. Additionally, the company is facing numerous other legal disputes, with a total amount of 1.333 billion yuan involved, equivalent to nearly 9% of its net assets. The fact that shareholders' pledged shares were auctioned off by the court, with some failing to sell, further reflects investors' lack of confidence in the company's future. According to its financial report, Rongsheng Development posted a net loss attributable to the parent company of approximately 8.444 billion yuan in 2024, representing a year-on-year surge of 2,293.07%. The net loss after deducting non-recurring gains and losses reached around 8.049 billion yuan, a staggering year-on-year increase of 2,622.1%. Sales of top 100 real estate companies fell 9.8% in the first quarter and 30.6% last year, data previously released by China Index Academy showed that in the first quarter of this year, total sales of China's top 100 real estate companies dropped by 9.8% year-on-year. Sales in 2024 declined by 30.6% compared to the previous year. Among them, sales of the sales champion Poly Development fell by 23.5%, and its net profit attributable to the parent company plunged by 58.43% year-on-year. In recent years, China's economic growth has slowed, real estate demand has contracted, and regulatory controls have tightened. The pressure to ensure housing delivery has left developers grappling with capital shortages and growing default risks. The sheer number of creditors, complex debt structures, and difficulties in asset disposal have all contributed to the increasingly low success rate of restructuring efforts.