Over 1,700 China health staff infected

BEIJING: A senior Chinese health official said yesterday that 1,716 health workers have been infected by the coronavirus and six of them have died.

National Health Commission Vice Minister Zeng Yixin told a news conference the number of infected medical staff was increasing.

“At present, the duties of medical workers at the front are indeed extremely heavy,” Mr Zeng said.

“Their working and resting circumstances are limited, the psychological pressures are great, and the risk of infection is high.”

More than 87% of infected medical workers were in Hubei, the province at the epicentre of the outbreak that emerged in December.

More analysis needed to be done on how many of the medical workers were infected in hospitals, Mr Zeng said.

The figure for the number of medial workers who had died was six.

Chinese officials and hospitals have repeatedly spoken out over a shortage of protective equipment, including face masks, as the disease has taken hold in Hubei and spread throughout the country.

The death from the coronavirus of Li Wenliang, a doctor who had been reprimanded for issuing an early warning about the disease, triggered a wave of public anguish this month and rare expressions of anger with the government.

The 34-year-old sent out a message about the coronavirus to colleagues on Dec 30, but was later among eight whistleblowers summoned by police for “rumour-mongering”. He has been hailed as a hero by Chinese internet users.