Chinese medical laboratory boss detained on suspicion of ‘causing spread of coronavirus’
- Regional manager for the Zhengzhou Kingmed centre is in custody and case is being investigated, police say
- It comes as Henan province is grappling with its worst outbreak since the early months of the pandemic
In a statement on Wednesday, police in the city of Xuchang said the man, surnamed Zhang, was a regional manager for the Zhengzhou Kingmed Clinical Laboratory Centre.
It said he was being held on suspicion of violating the Law on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases and “committing acts that caused the spread of the coronavirus or seriously increased the danger of spreading it”.
Zhang was in custody in Yuzhou – which is under the jurisdiction of Xuchang – and the case was being investigated, the statement said.
There have been many cases of medical workers and residents being detained and punished for not following Covid-19 containment rules in China, and this appears to be the second such case involving a medical laboratory.
A year ago, a lab in Hebei province was suspended and a manager detained for “endangering public safety” after 300,000 people had to get retested when they were mistakenly told their tests were negative before the results were through, Xinhua reported.