TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Video surfaced on Chinese social media Tuesday (Sept. 14) showing an unaccompanied 4-year-old boy in a full hazmat suit trudging with a suitcase to enter isolation as well as undergo a CT scan.
A new cluster infection involving the Delta variant of COVID-19 in Fujian Province has reached 186 cases in a week, with 85 reported on Wednesday alone (Sept. 15), Chinese state-run media outlet Shanghai Daily reported. The most serious cases reported that day include 36 children under the age of 10, with the youngest being only four years old.
These children are being forced by the authorities to be temporarily separated from their parents and placed in hospital isolation wards alone. They are also undergoing various medical examinations unaccompanied by their parents.
Child waiting to enter isolation room. (Weibo image)
On Tuesday (Sept. 14), Zhu Xiaqing (朱霞青), a nurse at a fever clinic at the Affiliated Hospital of Putian University posted a video of a 4-year-old boy who had been infected with the virus covered from head to toe in an oversized hazmat suit and pushing a suitcase nearly his own height in the dark of night. She said that watching him entering quarantine without his parents made her heart ache but added, “You're a brave man, wishing you a swift recovery!"
She then posted a second video showing a young child in full PPE with a backpack being led toward a testing room. The captions on the video state that many children have tested positive for the virus and must undergo testing on their own.
Child waiting to undergo CT scan. (Weibo image)
Still images appear showing very young children in baggy hazmat suits led by nurses to undergo CT scans. The captions state that the children are very obedient and patiently stand at a proper social distance.
The video's author writes: "Although you are afraid, we will always wait for you, accompany you."
The hospital stated that in order to reduce the children's fear of the hospital, cartoon characters have been posted on the walls of the ward and a lot of extracurricular reading material has been prepared. According to the hospital, "The children's emotions are very stable."
Nurse places child on table for CT scan. (Weibo image)
As of today, 85 people tested positive for #COVID19 in Putian, #Fujian Province, including 28 primary school students and 8 kindergarten kids. The children who are under treatment in isolation wards are very brave and cooperative, a nurse said. pic.twitter.com/zQA2Qas15Q
— Shanghai Daily (@shanghaidaily) September 15, 2021
A 4-year-old kid — who tested positive (asymptomatic) for COVID-19 — in Putian (莆田), Fujian province, is being taken away for quarantine by himself. Putian is where a major outbreak is happening at the moment. pic.twitter.com/7op6qnCQSC
— Byron Wan (@Byron_Wan) September 14, 2021
#Fujian #Putian
This 4-year-old boy got #COVID. He had to be isolated without his parents.
Ugly #China. Poor #Chinese. https://t.co/gyYJCH4KqM
— Jane Danyang (@DanyangJane) September 14, 2021