A Chinese clinic’s deputy head has dropped dead after fighting the deadly coronavirus on the front line for 33 days straight, according to China’s state media.
Dr Zhong Jinxing, 32, died of a heart attack in his dorm room in the wee hours of Friday, reported Xinhua News Agency through its social media account.
It is said that the medic had volunteered to work without a day off since January 26. He left behind his wife and their six-year-old daughter.
Dr Zhong Jinixng from Guangxi Province in southern China had volunteered to work without a day off since January 26, according to reports. He was the deputy leader of a team of medical workers who were in charge of the control and prevention of the virus in Lingfeng Town Clinic
He devoted himself to a series of tasks, including paying door-to-door visits to conduct health checks. A picture released by Guangxi News shows Dr Zhong (middle) visiting the locals
According to local Guangxi News, Dr Zhong was the deputy director of Lingfeng Town Clinic in Guangxi Province, southern China.
He also served as the deputy leader of a team of medical workers who were in charge of the control and prevention of the new coronavirus in Lingfeng Town Clinic.
He devoted himself to a series of tasks, including paying door-to-door visits to families to conduct health checks, supervising the quarantine situation of the residents who had returned from Hubei Province and taking the body temperature of drivers and passengers on the highway, the report said.
He allegedly started a meeting with his colleagues at around 11pm on Thursday to discuss how to prevent the spread of the virus when the locals returned to work. After he went back to his dormitory in the wee hours, he collapsed and died.
Originating in Wuhan, the new coronavirus – known as COVID-19 – has killed at least 2,912 people and infected more than 80,000 inside China. The picture shows a family wearing face masks and plastic raincoats walking at the Hongqiao railway station in Shanghai on Monday
Overnight, the Hubei health officials reported 196 new cases out of a nationwide total of 202 and all of the 42 new deaths nationwide. This picture shows travellers wearing face masks sitting on benches at Changsha railway station in Changsha, Hunan Province, on March 2
Globally, the coronavirus has killed at least 3,060 people and infected more than 89,600
The family of the ‘heroic’ doctor will be paid 818,000 yuan (£91,400) after the local Human Resources and Social Security Bureau ruled his case a ‘workplace injury’, said Guangxi Daily on Twitter-like Weibo.
The news came as a 55-year-old doctor in Wuhan – the centre of the coronavirus outbreak – died after contracting the disease from patients.
Dr Jiang Xueqing, who worked at the Wuhan Central Hospital, died in the wee hours yesterday at Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital following ‘all-out rescue efforts’, said a statement from Wuhan Central Hospital.
Since the outbreak started last December, 25 Chinese medical workers who dedicated themselves to curbing the epidemic have died, including 12 of them who died after contracting the disease, according to Chinese news outlet Caixin.
Dr Liu, the head of Wuhan Wuchang Hospital at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, died of the disease at around 11am on February 18 after catching it at work, health officials confirmed
Dr Liu Zhiming, the head of Wuhan Wuchang Hospital, died on February 18 at the age of 51 after being infected with the virus at work.
Dr Li Wenliang, who was punished for sounding the alarm over the coronavirus outbreak before it spread, succembed to the deadly contagion on February 7, sparking outpourings of grief and fury on social media for the whistle-blower.
Originating in Wuhan, the new coronavirus – known as COVID-19 – has killed at least 2,912 people and infected more than 80,000 inside China.
Overnight, the Hubei health officials reported 196 new cases out of a nationwide total of 202 and all of the 42 new deaths nationwide.
Li Wenliang, 34, succumbed to the deadly contagion in the early hours of February 7 local time, despite attempts to resuscitate him. The ophthalmologist caught the public’s attention after he was reprimanded by police and accused of spreading ‘fake news’ for warning on social media of ‘SARS at a Wuhan seafood market’. His hospital initially denied reports of his death
Mourners pay their respect to deceased Chinese doctor Li Wenliang during a vigil ceremony in Hong Kong on February 7. The public have accused Dr Li’s hospital of trying to cover up truth
While the virus crisis seems to have slowed down in China, outbreaks outside of China have escalated in the past week.
Dozens of nations are now battling the contagion, with South Korea, Italy, Japan and Iran among the worst-affected.
Virus cases in South Korea surged and millions of children in Japan stayed home from school today as officials struggled to contain the epidemic in more than 60 countries.
South Korean soldiers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant as part of preventive measures against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at Dongdaegu railway station in Daegu on February 29. Coronavirus cases in South Korea have surged in the past week
People wearing face masks ahead of the St David’s Day Parade in Cardiff on Monday as fears continue to sweep Britain while the coronavirus crisis unfolds in more than 60 countries
Coronavirus fears have also hit Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, with people wearing masks as they walk through the city
Three women wear face masks as they walk through Banda Aceh, a city on the Indonesian island of Sumatra
Portugal registered its first two cases of the new coronavirus today, both in people who had recently returned from abroad, the country’s Health Minister Marta Temido told a news conference.
Meanwhile, Public Health England (PHE) warned that widespread transmission of coronavirus in the UK was ‘highly likely’ as the Prime Minister gathers ministers for an emergency Cobra meeting.
Health officials in Washington State in the United States said that a second person had died from the coronavirus – a man in his 70s from a nursing facility near Seattle where dozens of people were sick and had been tested for the virus.
Globally, the coronavirus epidemic has killed at least 3,060 people and infected more than 89,620.