At least 500 Wuhan medical staff infected with coronavirus
- Medical sources in the city confirm rate of infection, but say they have been told not to release the full picture to the public
- So far three deaths among medical workers have been confirmed, including that of Li Wenliang, but higher rate of infection risks hampering fight to curb disease
At least 500 hospital staff in Wuhan had been infected with the deadly new strain of coronavirus by mid January, multiple medical sources have confirmed, leaving hospitals short-staffed and causing deep concern among health care workers.
While the government has reported individual cases of health care workers becoming infected, it has not provided the full picture, and the sources said doctors and nurses had been told not to make the total public.
The reason for this edict was not explained, but the authorities have been trying to boost morale among frontline medical staff, especially following the death of Li Wenliang, who was killed by the disease weeks after being reprimanded by police for warning colleagues about the new virus.
A slide circulating online, however, reveals the scale of infections among medical workers in Wuhan.
It said that by mid-January there had been about 500 confirmed cases among hospital staff with a further 600 suspected ones.
A source from a major hospital in Wuhan with knowledge of the situation confirmed that the slide was authentic.