China Coronavirus Cover-Up: Woman Seeks 2 Million Yuan Over Father's Death

The Chinese woman whose father died of COVID-19 in Wuhan says he was denied urgent treatment as part of a wider cover-up.

A Chinese woman whose father died of COVID-19 in Wuhan city hospital has accused the authorities of denying him urgent treatment as part of a wider cover-up. She is now suing the authorities and seeking two million yuan in compensation.

As per Zhao Lei, her father died on February 3 while awaiting his checkup for the symptoms that ultimately caused his demise. In the lawsuit, she alleges that her father was denied urgent treatment. Apart from two million yuan, she is also looking for an official apology from the governor of Hubei province and from the mayor of Wuhan city.

Coronavirus
Patients are seen at a temporary hospital converted from "Wuhan Livingroom" in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 10, 2020. In face of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic, Wuhan authorities have transformed public venues such as exhibition centers and gymnasiums into temporary hospitals. The hospitals have a large capacity of treating patients with mild symptoms and play an important role in isolating the source of infection and cutting off the routes of infection during epidemic prevention. The first batch of patients was hospitalized on Feb. 5. (Xinhua/Xiong Qi/IANS) Xinhua/IANS

"The government concealed the fact that the coronavirus can be transmitted between people, which meant that everyone in Wuhan, including our family, carried on buying stuff, eating celebratory meals for Lunar New Year and eating out together," Zhao told RFA.

Zhao alleges that her father started showing symptoms on January 30. He was later admitted to Wuhan Zhongshan Hospital. Zhao Lei further stated that her father had pneumonia and died in the emergency ward five days after getting sick. However, on his death certificate, it is written "sudden death."

"Why did the government try to cover this up at first?" Zhao said. "If they hadn't done that, my father wouldn't have died of it. That's why I'm suing the municipal authorities and the provincial government, who I think should make a formal response."

Is China Covering up Coronavirus Deaths?

Apparently, this is not for the very first time when reports have surfaced that China is involved in some kind of cover-up when it comes to Coronavirus.

In recent months, there have been several other allegations against China. A doctor, who had diagnosed early coronavirus cases in the country, accused that the local authorities in the Wuhan city reportedly covered up the initial scale of the outbreak.

Professor Kwok-Yung Yuen told BBC back in July that the physical evidence at the Huanan wildlife market was reportedly destroyed by the local authorities. He added that when they went to the supermarket to understand the COVID-19 outbreak, there was nothing for them to see because the market was reportedly cleaned.

Since everything was covered up, they couldn't find the origin or the host that was transmitting the virus to humans.

Coronavirus Quarantine
Representational Picture Pixabay

Other than Professor Kwok-Yung Yuen, another doctor from Hong Kong has also accused China of coronavirus cover-up.

Dr. Li-Meng Yan, who specializes in virology and immunology, accused Beijing and WHO advisor Professor Malik Peiris of not doing anything about it. In an interview with Fox News, Yan said she believe the Chinese government knew about the virus well before it claimed it. She even alleged that her supervisor also ignored the research she was doing that she believes could have saved many lives.

Coronavirus pandemic started from the Huanan wildlife market in Wuhan city of China in December last year. Till now, the pandemic has affected over 18 million people and claimed lives of more than 650,000.

READ MORE