The novel Coronavirus, the silent killer which has made its way from the Asian continent to America and killed more than 380,900 people globally, claimed another life in China, provoking a backlash against the authorities' handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The deceased was none other than the 42-year-old Hu Weifeng, a urologist at Wuhan Central hospital, known as the "whistleblower hospital," where ophthalmologist Li Wenliang used to work. After four months of suffering from the Coronavirus, Hu died on Tuesday, June 2. He is the sixth doctor from the hospital became the victim of the invisible enemy.
Victim of Coronavirus or Negligence?
Apart from Coronavirus whistleblower Li Wenliang, another Wuhan doctor Ai Fen earlier tried to reveal the surge of a new virus in Hubei's Wuhan city. She revealed that employees of the hospital were asked by the authorities not to wear protective gear so as not to cause panic among local residents. When she tried to share details about the virus infection at an early stage, she was also asked not to spread rumors.
Months later Li Wenliang's death Chinese authority accepted their fault and apologized to the family of Li, who was ordered to stop spreading details about the virus. But now after another doctor's death in the same hospital, a hashtag including Hu's name started to appear on social media that generated 400 million views on Wednesday.
Many of these people who came across the news of Hu's death asked why the heads of the hospital have not been punished. Some of them specifically named Cai Li, head of the Communist Party committee of the hospital.
Once again massive backlash
On Chinese social media site Weibo, a user wrote, "From Li Wenliang to Hu Weifeng, the medical staff of Wuhan Central hospital lost the most during the outbreak. They were killed by the leaders of the hospital." While referring to the number of cities and provincial-level officials who have been fired from their positions over their handling of the outbreak, one user asked, "Wuhan officials have all been changed. What about the leadership of the central hospital?".
Another user said while addressing Cai Li said that he is not even faced any investigation, and added that "Are these doctors and nurses going to die in vain?". As per the reports, Hu suffered a brain hemorrhage in April and was in a coma before he died. The Chinese media said that when Hu was awake he told those around him, "I feel like a small boat in the middle of the ocean. At any moment I could be submerged."
