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Global Times learned that a coronavirus-suspected female patient, who appeared in online footage showing her walking into an “iron box” on a small truck and screaming, is being quarantined in her boyfriend’s home in Suzhou, East China’s Jiangsu Province, safe and sound. 

Global Times reporters dug up the truth after the video was deliberately used for smearing China, causing widespread misunderstanding and panic.

In the video, the woman hugs her boyfriend under the surveillance of two medical staffers wearing protective outfits on a roadside. Then she steps into a box-like room facilitated on the back of a small truck with the logo “environmental monitoring.”Additional background information such as slogans on the bus indicated that the event occurred in Suzhou. 

A related community worker in Suzhou told the Global Times on Tuesday that the woman had a history of visiting Wuhan, the epidemic center, on January 21 and arrived at Suzhou on February 5. She personally reported her information to community workers who are in charge of epidemic control inside her residential district.. 

A community worker surnamed You told the Global Times that the woman agreed to be quarantined in a government-designated quarantine area on February 6. 

However, at the time there were no suitable vehicles available to pick her up from her house as cars must have separate rooms to isolate drivers and passengers to avoid cross-infection. 

So community workers used a truck from the environmental department in the same sub district. As it was raining, in order to prevent the woman from getting wet, community employees decided to install a box-like shed and installed seats inside the “iron-box.”

As for the woman's emotional outburst, You said community workers did not coerce the woman or forcefully drag her into the truck, and she was accompanied and comforted by her boyfriend, who was also shown in the video.

You noted that after arriving at the quarantine spot, upon further examination, community workers decided that the woman was eligible for home quarantine and she was sent to her boyfriend’s house afterwards.

The video is being used as a weapon to attack China by some anti-China pundits and media online, who spread fake news that the woman was arrested and would face serious consequences. Some Chinese analysts say that creating panic and smearing China through spreading fake news is doomed to fail.

In joint efforts among the Chinese people, the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus infection outside the outbreak epicenter Hubei Province has been on the decline for eight consecutive days. New daily confirmed cases of coronavirus infection in Hubei Province also have seen a decrease in the past two days, and the number dropped below 2,000 for the first time in the past 10 days on Tuesday.


Global Times