Coronavirus Victim’s Family Attacks Wuhan Doctors

A relative of a coronavirus victim attacked medical staff in Wuhan, the city at the epicenter of the outbreak that has infected thousands of people around China and more than a dozen countries since December.

According to a Friday statement (link in Chinese) posted by Wuhan police, a man surnamed Ke attacked medical staff on Wednesday in Wuhan No. 4 People’s Hospital after his father-in-law died. He hit them and tore off their face masks and hazmat suits, police said. Ke is now in police custody.

According to a report by Beijing Youth Daily, two doctors were attacked, with one quoted as saying that the public shouldn’t pay too much attention to the incident but should instead focus on fighting the virus.

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According to a post shared widely on Chinese social media, which was not independently verified by Caixin, a doctor surnamed Gao received scratches to his neck and staff whose protective clothing was damaged were quarantined and are not able to continue working for the time being. The post also said a nurse was attacked by the family.

Caixin reached out to the hospital, though phone calls to its publicity department were not answered. A member of medical staff on duty told Caixin that “we are not allowed to give interviews, but there was an attack on doctors.” She declined to reveal any more information about the incident.

She told Caixin, however, that there are ongoing shortages of medical and protective supplies, including face masks and protective clothing. The hospital has received some donated protective clothing, but it did not meet the standards required for surgical use.

Violence against medical staff has long been a problem in China. In December, a Beijing doctor was fatally stabbed by a patient’s relative.

Contact reporter Isabelle Li (liyi@caixin.com) and editor Joshua Dummer (joshuadummer@caixin.com)