Authorities are starting to question the policy of home quarantines after four people from the same family died from the new Covid-19 coronavirus.
According to Straits Times, coronavirus patients have allegedly been told to quarantine themselves at home in order to relieve pressure on overburdened and undersupplied hospitals.
However, home quarantines could spark clusters of cross-household and cross-community infections, and cause more deaths by allowing serious infections to progress without treatment, said a professor at Wuhan’s Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
Source: SCMP
This concern was proven true after four members of a Wuhan family living in the same apartment died from the new coronavirus.
55-year-old Chang Kai died last Friday (14th February) from pneumonia caused by Covid-19 after his father and mother died from the same virus.
His father first reported symptoms on 25th January. Chang took his father to a few hospitals in Wuhan but was turned away due to a shortage of beds. Three days later, his father died.
Not long after, his mother also contracted the disease and died on 2nd February.
On the same day, a Chinese epidemiologist said that it was “extremely dangerous” for hospitals to send people diagnosed with the virus home.
Source: Straits Times
Authorities in Wuhan also announced that they were ending the home quarantine policy and have started sorting patients into confirmed cases, suspected cases, people with fever, and people who have been in contact with coronavirus patients but had not yet shown symptoms. These patients were treated accordingly to the category they were placed in.
However, the change in policy was too late for Chang as he had already contracted the disease, probably from either his father or mother. On 14th February, Chang died just hours before the virus also took his older sister’s life.
Meanwhile, Chang’s wife, who also contracted the disease, remains in a critical condition.
The story of this family’s death highlights how badly the authorities in Wuhan had handled the situation by issuing a policy of home quarantine. That policy went ahead despite concerns that it posed a risk to public health.
Don’t underestimate this virus! To recover fully from symptoms, one needs professional help!
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