Don’t separate Covid-positive children from parents, Western diplomats ask China
- French and British envoys raise concerns about practice in Shanghai as city tries to stop spread of coronavirus
- Lack of privacy and sanitation at mobile hospitals also worrying, British letter says
The city has been separating Covid-positive children from their parents, citing epidemic prevention requirements, which has prompted a widespread public outcry.
Diplomats from more than 30 countries have written to the Chinese foreign ministry urging authorities not to take such a step.
“We request that under no circumstances should parents and children be separated,” the French consulate in Shanghai said in a letter addressed to the foreign affairs office in the city on Thursday.
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In a separate letter to the Chinese foreign ministry dated the same day, the British embassy in Beijing said it was concerned by “recent instances when local authorities have sought to separate minors who tested positive for Covid-19 from their parents” and requested assurances that this would not happen to diplomatic staff.