China warns hospitals not to reject patients

A top Chinese official expressing “shame” has warned hospitals treating those infected with Covid-19 not to turn away other patients after a woman suffered a miscarriage and a man died from cardiac arrest during the ongoing lockdown in Xian city in northwest China.

The pregnant woman and the man who died were turned away from hospitals in Xian – a city of 13 million in its 16th day of lockdown – as they could not furnish negative nucleic acid test certificates.

Since December 9, Xian has recorded more than 1,800 locally transmitted Covid-19 cases.

Chinese vice-premier Sun Chunlan said she felt deeply ashamed and heartbroken about the woman’s miscarriage. “That this problem arose was very heart-wrenching and I feel deeply ashamed,” she was quoted as saying by the South China Morning Post.

“It showed that outbreak prevention work had problems with not being sufficiently strict or down to earth. The lesson learned was deep,” Sun added.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong authorities ordered about 170 people, including several officials, to be quarantined as a precaution at a government facility on Friday after they attended a birthday party where two guests later tested positive for Covid.

About 170 guests attended the birthday party, including about nine government officials and nearly 20 lawmakers.