Over 100 medical staff at a hospital in Harbin city were quarantined after a nurse tested positive for COVID-19, but local authorities attempted to conceal the situation, a trusted source told The Epoch Times. According to documents obtained by the publication, authorities require hospitals to follow strict guidelines in dealing with COVID-19 infections. But one expert says that the process is just a “political formality.”
Last month, an anonymous source told the Chinese-language Epoch Times that an infected case was confirmed at Heilongjiang COVID-19 treatment center, which is located at the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, on Jan. 30. The hospital is located in Nangang district of Harbin, the provincial capital of China’s northeastern Heilongjiang Province.
Around 130 medical staff were quarantined in a hotel for over 20 days after a routine COVID-19 test. The hospital administrators offered no explanation, the insider said.
Hospital Protocols
Local hospitals require staff to fill out many compliance forms to ensure that COVID-19 prevention and control protocols are being followed.The publication obtained various documents from hospitals in Nangang district of Harbin, including information of healthcare workers, nucleic acid test results, and a checklist for COVID-19 prevention and control measures.
There is also a document that local hospitals are required to sign, which holds them accountable for implementing the measures and protecting staff from COVID-19. Heilongjiang Hemei Maternity Hospital, which is also located in Nangang, signed the form on Jan. 18, according to records provided to The Epoch Times from a trusted source.
According to the document, the medical institution would take legal responsibilities “if any hospital-acquired infection [COVID-19] occurs or an infectious disease spreads” from the hospital.
However, the administrators of Heilongjiang COVID-19 treatment center and the local authorities were not held accountable for the infection case at the institution, the anonymous source revealed.
The insider said the management of the treatment center is “chaotic.”
The COVID-19 treatment center was established in the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University on Jan. 20. Medical workers from various hospitals in Harbin were sent to the center, but they did not receive proper training, the insider said.
‘Political Formality’
U.S.-based China affairs commentator Li Linyi said the authorities began to issue instructions related to epidemic precautionary measures last year when hospitals in northern China experienced cluster outbreaks.To stem the virus outbreak in Nangang district, the Chinese Communist Party applied the same approach adopted in previous political movements—“everyone has to pass the test,” Li said. The phrase implies that every medical worker has to register their personal information, record nucleic acid test results, and complete all the necessary paperwork.
Commentator Li said the medical workers are fed up with the politics behind implementing pandemic control measures.