But we're talking "sought hospital care". In the west, when I hear "hospitalized", I translate that as admitted to hospital from the emergency department because your problems won't be solved in 12 hours.

In China, "hospital care" might just mean the clinics at the hospital. Even in the west, I know family doctor units that are based at the hospital and that's where you'd go for regular stuff.

Tenth of thousands of people die from flu in the US every year: https://tinyurl.com/tc3c2mz2 . The fact that you have not worked with any of the victims means zilch.