Coronavirus in China: six in firing line after elderly Shanghai patient mistaken for dead triggers new wave of lockdown horror
- Widely circulated video shows moment morgue workers realise patient is still alive as they load body bag into van
- Flash district investigation punishes six including district officials and a doctor as incident sparks new wave of anguish in locked down city
The Putuo district government confirmed the blunder on Monday morning and announced an investigation. Hours later, it said four officials, a director of the care home and a doctor had been either sacked or reprimanded.
The incident from Sunday afternoon sparked an online furore, after videos circulating widely on Chinese social media showed two men who appeared to be mortuary workers handling a yellow body bag outside the Shanghai Xinchangzheng welfare hospital, the aged care centre in Changzheng township of Putuo.
The men, who are in protective clothing, can be seen unzipping the bag in front of an employee from the centre and insisting that the person is still alive. The staff member then checks for signs of life and reseals the bag, despite the protests of bystanders fearing the patient would suffocate.
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Elderly Shanghai patient mistaken for dead, later found alive in transit to morgue
According to the video, the staff member next returns to the centre to deliberate with two people in white hazmat suits before the elderly patient is seen being wheeled back into the facility.