A patient consults medical workers at "Wuhan Livingroom" in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 8, 2020. The cultural building complex dubbed "Wuhan Livingroom" is a converted hospital to receive patients infected with the novel coronavirus. (Photo: Xinhua)

 

A local government requested a residential community in Central China to apologize after it triggered public outrage by voting to keep medical staff out of their doors for fear of coronavirus infection. The case shows that although medical staff receive praise from society amid the fight against coronavirus outbreak, they still often come across many obstacles in their daily lives.

The government of Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province said in a statement on Sunday night that medical staff should be respected and not discriminated against. 

No individual and organization is allowed to prevent the work of medical workers, and if confirmed, those responsible will be seriously punished, the government said. 

The announcement came after screenshots circulated online showed a resident in a community reportedly owned by the local education bureau in Zhengzhou shut medical staff out because medical staff may have had close contact with all kinds of patients and may carry the coronavirus. 

A doctor surnamed Li who has been working at an emergency department at a hospital in Hebei Province since January told the Global Times on Monday that medical staff usually get protective kits and get themselves disinfected before going home, making the chances of medical staff becoming infected very small.

Shutting the door to medical staff was not an isolated case. Other cases of discrimination against medical workers have also been reported during the outbreak.

A grass-roots official surnamed Xia in East China's Jiangxi Province, also a Party member who joined the campaign to fight the coronavirus outbreak, told the Global Times that he had seen some local residents, including suspected patients, refusing to cooperate with medical workers to undergo quarantine, and even abused the workers at first.

Xia noted the residents have since become more cooperative and understand the hard work the medical staff had done as authorities are also making every effort to ensure the rights of frontline workers, including those of the medical staff.

China's National Health Commission said on Friday that people who are found discriminating against and isolating frontline medical personnel and their families shall be criticized and educated, and those whose cases are serious shall be punished accordingly. 

Authorities across China, including South China's Guangdong Province and Southwest China's Sichuan Province, recently vowed to crack down on acts which harm medical staff, provide enough protective medical gear to the staff, and set up special funds for them.

Wuhan said on Friday that frontline medical staff who will buy a first house can apply for up to 840,000 yuan ($120,278) in housing provident fund loans. Individual income taxes shall be exempted from temporary work subsidies and bonuses for the medical personnel who participate in epidemic prevention and control work in accordance with government standards, according to an announcement published by China's Ministry of Finance and State Taxation Administration.

Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia, nationwide medical staff have won wide respect from society. More than 11,900 medical personnel have been dispatched across the nation to Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus, the National Health Commission said on Sunday.