Outrage in China as baby dies after 'Zero-COVID' policy made medical treatment impossible

Amid the strict COVID-19 lockdown, the death of a four-month-old baby fuelled a fresh wave of outrage in China's Zhengzhou province on Wednesday. According to multiple media reports, the father of the baby claimed that his daughter was suffering from diarrhoea and had vomited multiple times. When he approached the doctors, he refused to see his four-month-old daughter. Later, the same day, she died due to a delay in medical treatment. An investigation is underway.  It is worth mentioning that China has been experiencing a surge in COVID cases in the past few months.

According to local Chinese media, the country is reporting nearly 20,000 cases of the lethal virus every day. Zhengzhou, in central Henan province, is a current hotspot. This prompted the Chinese authorities to invoke a strict zero-Covid policy. As per multiple Chinese media reports, Li Baoliang and his four-month-old daughter were isolated in a quarantined hotel following the COVID positive result of his wife. The family had been under strict lockdown since November 12.  On November 14, his daughter exhibited symptoms of diarrhoea and was not taking meals properly.

People show anger on social media platforms

Subsequently, he called an ambulance to transport his baby to a nearby hospital. However, he told China News Weekly that the vehicle denied permission and asked him to carry out an antigen test. Luckily, the baby tested negative, but medical staff then outright refused to see the child. According to the father, the doctors said that the baby was not seriously ill. The negligence resulted in deteriorating the health condition of the four-month-old baby. Eventually, the baby died following an abrupt fall in body temperature. This prompted people to showcase their anger against the government and the strict covid restrictions imposed by Xi Jinping's lead administration. People took to "censored" social media platforms to register their disagreement with the strict covid rulings. 

Similar incident witnessed in the first week of this month

Earlier in the first week of this month, a similar incident of death fuelled a fresh wave of outrage in China's Gansu. According to the victim's father, the workers asked him to show a negative Coronavirus test result before carrying his son to a hospital. However, he failed to show the report as no tests had been carried out at the compound in the last ten days, according to a social media post. This resulted in the death of a four-month boy.  "My child might have been saved if he had been taken to the hospital sooner," he wrote on social media post.

Image: AP