Epidemic prevention scene in a local community in Shangrao, East China's Jiangxi Province, on Nov 10. Photo: VCG

 
The anti-epidemic employee who culled a pet dog of a resident while the resident was undergoing quarantine in East China's Jiangxi Province was removed from his post and apologized to the pet owner, local authorities said in a notice after the case sparked controversy online. 

Observers admit the imperfect behavior of the anti-epidemic staffer, but they have also called for more understanding toward the front-line workers who are working tirelessly to curb the epidemic.

When the anti-epidemic staffer carried out environmental disinfection at a resident house after the community was labelled as COVID-19 epidemic controlled area, the staffer gave harmless disposal on a pet dog without having fully communicated with the pet owner. The person was punished and transferred to another position, and was urged to make an apology to the dog owner, according to a notice released by Xinzhou district of Shangrao, a city in Jiangxi Province, on Saturday. 

The dog owner now expressed understanding toward the staff and the anti-epidemic measures, the notice reads. 

The community had asked residents to leave their doors open after leaving their homes for quarantine but the door of the resident was closed. The anti-epidemic staff entered the house to disinfect the house accompanied by the police, the notice said. 

Jiangxi Province has reported 20 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 51 asymptomatic cases since October 30. 

The incident caused much controversy after the dog's owner released a video clip of anti-epidemic staff breaking a door open and culling the dog with an iron bar after the dog shook off strings.

Observers said anti-epidemic staff should have sought for more legal and reasonable behavior despite intense anti-epidemic missions. Local anti-epidemic departments and government officials should be sober in understanding and assessing any opinions from the residents and do their best in dealing with the details.

They should not only curb the epidemic but care about the social impact their behavior will have, observers said. 

At the same time, observers called for more understanding from the public that the notice from the local government may not be perfect, but public criticism on the individual anti-epidemic employee should not extend to the entire local government or the anti-epidemic policy. 

The video clip from the residential house is only one scene of the hard struggles of anti-epidemic staff and local government in the fight against COVID-19. Front-line workers always fight at the barricades once an epidemic occurs. It is their effort that propels the clearance of COVID-19 infections, observers said. 

Global Times