The Chinese government fired two hospital workers and suspended another this week after a woman who was eight months pregnant miscarried outside of a hospital when she was denied entry on Jan. 1 because of strict coronavirus protocols, according to reports.
China has a strict zero-tolerance policy for the virus, meaning residents aren’t allowed to leave their homes without an allowed reason when a surge happens, and mandatory testing.
The woman’s negative test had expired by four hours when she arrived at the Gaoxin Hospital in the city, Bloomberg reported, citing a social media post on China’s Weibo by a woman who said she was the mother-to-be’s niece.
Hospital workers finally let her in after she started bleeding heavily on the street while waiting two hours for the results of another test, the Washington Post reported. A video posted to Weibo appeared to show the woman bleeding.
A government worker mans a pandemic checkpoint outside a residential block in Xi’an city in northwest China’s Shaanxi province Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. (Chinatopix Via AP) (Chinatopix Via AP)
Xi’an is battling the country’s worst surge of the virus since it was discovered in Wuhan in 2019.
CHINA COVID LOCKDOWN CAUSES SOME FOOD SHORTAGES
The city’s government said it had determined the incident was an “accident caused by negligence,” adding that it had fired two hospital department heads and suspended a general manager. The hospital must also apologize to the woman and compensate her.
In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, a worker wearing protective gear gives a COVID-19 test to a woman at a testing site in Xi’an in northwestern China’s Shaanxi Province, Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022. (Tao Ming/Xinhua via AP) (Tao Ming/Xinhua via AP)
The incident and food and medical care shortages due to residents’ restricted movements have been widely criticized on Weibo, something rare in the communist country, Bloomberg reported.
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In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, volunteers wearing protective suits package meals for delivery to people under lockdown in Xi’an in northwestern China’s Shaanxi Province, Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022. (Zhang Bowen/Xinhua via AP) ((Zhang Bowen/Xinhua via AP)
Other stories include an HIV patient who was refused treatment at several hospitals in the city for nearly a month with a 105 degree fever until a post from his family went viral and a man who died from heart disease for the same reason, according to the Post.
Xi’an’s main airport suspended all international flights on Wednesday. Domestic flights had already been put on hold as part of measures to seal off the city. Tens of thousands of close contacts of infected people have been placed in quarantine centers.
Nearby Beijing is scheduled to host the Winter Olympics next month.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
