Doctor says he was silenced as colleagues contracted coronavirus

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Moscow - Tommy Yang - A 69-year-old male patient received surgery at the Wuhan Union Hospital on January 8 to remove a pituitary tumor in his brain. Three days after the operation, the patient started to develop a fever and CT scans showed signs of lung infection, a local doctor told Sputnik in an phone interview. The patient’s lung infection became much more serious five days after the operation​​​. The doctors and nurses who treated him also began to develop fevers. The affected medical personnel were isolated into separate rooms, while the patient was transferred to the designated Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital to be quarantined after being confirmed to have contracted the new coronavirus. After a number of patients began to develop pneumonia symptoms in Wuhan in December, local authorities acknowledged that the affected patients were mostly business owners from a seafood market in the city, but stressed that there was no evidence of "human-to-human" transmission of the mysterious disease. The ongoing outbreak of the virus raised alarms among doctors in Wuhan, with some saying in groups on WeChat — a Chinese social media service — among colleagues that the new virus could be related to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which caused a global outbreak from 2002-2003. On December 30, Li Wenliang, a doctor from the Wuhan Central Hospital, wrote to colleagues in the WeChat groups that seven cases of SARS infection were confirmed at the Huanan seafood market, as he did not know that the new coronavirus is from a different strain of the virus.

Li’s post was shared on various Chinese social media platforms and went viral at once, as people grew worried that the deadly SARS virus had returned.

The next day, Li, along with seven other doctors who shared similar messages about the ongoing outbreak on social media, was summoned by the local police in Wuhan and was given a warning to avoid making "false claims online" that could seriously disrupt public order.

The punishment against the eight doctors in Wuhan became a warning to other medical personnel in the city. Although many doctors in Wuhan were aware that a possibly highly dangerous virus was being transmitted in the city, none of them dared to share more details about how serious the outbreak was with the public.

NOT ALLOWED TO SHARE

A statement from the Wuhan Health Commission on January 15 stressed that there was no "obvious evidence" of human-to-human transmission of the new coronavirus that had sickened 41 people in the city. Two days before that, doctors and nurses developed pneumonia symptoms after treating the brain surgery patient at the Wuhan Union Hospital.

"I almost took part in the surgery of that patient, who showed no signs of pneumonia symptoms when he checked into the hospital. That’s why when my colleagues handled this patient they didn’t take any protective measures. My hospital only started to isolate suspected infected patients by January 20," Kevin, a doctor from the Wuhan Union Hospital who declined to give his full name, told Sputnik.

Although Kevin was aware of the fact that many of his colleagues could be infected by the new coronavirus after treating the infected patient by January 15, he was not allowed to share any of that knowledge with the general public.

According to Kevin, 10 nurses from the neurosurgery department and four other doctors were infected by the patient who had brain surgery. Two patients who shared the same room with the brain surgery patient at the neurosurgery department were confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus.

"Nobody was allowed to mention the situation with the outbreak, even in internal WeChat groups among the doctors. If someone mentioned it, the person would be accused of spreading false rumors. My hospital issued a directive prohibiting all doctors to share information with the public or be interviewed without approval from propaganda officials in the hospital," he said.

Kevin shared a screenshot of the directive issued by his boss in an internal WeChat group among colleagues with Sputnik.

Eventually, the Wuhan Health Commission admitted on January 21 that 14 medical personnel were infected by the new coronavirus after treating the patient at the Wuhan Union Hospital, confirming that the new virus could be transmitted between humans.

During an interview with the official China Central Television, Wuhan Mayor Zhou Xianwang explained that local authorities in the city can only reveal information about an ongoing epidemic after receiving approval from the central government in Beijing. He also admitted that the information about the deadly virus had not been revealed to the public in a timely manner.

FLOODED HOSPITALS

After Chinese leader Xi Jinping issued a directive on January 20 urging local authorities in Wuhan to contain the new coronavirus outbreak, the city took strict measures to quarantine the infected patients and went as far as putting local residents under complete lockdown.

But the delay in notifying the public about the deadly outbreak has led to many residents in Wuhan becoming infected, as most of them did not try to protect themselves until the directive was issued.

According to a study published in the Lancet medical journal by a group of researchers from the University of Hong Kong, the new coronavirus could have infected about 75,815 individuals in Wuhan as of January 25.

Local hospitals, including the Wuhan Union Hospital, were flooded with patients with pneumonia symptoms. As part of the efforts to contain the outbreak, the Wuhan Union Hospital has designated a four-floor building and a medical check center as the quarantine zone for the patients who are suspected to be infected.

"There’s still a long line outside the quarantine zone of my hospital because it could only treat about 500 patients each day. And most of the patients came with their whole family because everybody appeared to be infected," Kevin said.

Although Kevin was not working in the quarantine zone, as an anesthetist, he still had to help with some infected patients who needed other medical assistance.

Some of Kevin’s colleagues had to wear full-body protective gear when they helped an infected woman deliver a baby in the hospital this week.

Amid the ongoing epidemic, the patients who need assistance with other medical problems also began to face troubles.

"My hospital is one of the top hospitals in Wuhan where patients from all over the province would come for treatment. But after the epidemic started, the number of surgeries per day in my hospital dropped from 300 to 6," Kevin said.

Some of the patients with chronic diseases, such as those suffering from diabetes, have been struggling to receive their routine treatment, as the hospital has focused most of its sources on fighting the epidemic, Kevin added.

As of this Tuesday, the new coronavirus has infected over 24,000 people and killed nearly 500 globally.

Associated Press