Coronavirus: meet the doctor who became an online celebrity for his straight talk
- Shanghai-based infectious disease expert Zhang Wenhong shot to fame thanks to his outspoken videos about the outbreak
- Now he wants to use his status to spread scientific knowledge, he says
A Shanghai-based infectious disease doctor has shot to fame during the coronavirus outbreak for his outspoken, down-to-earth talk about the disease.
Zhang Wenhong, director of Huashan Hospital’s department of infectious disease and of the Shanghai panel overseeing the treatment of Covid-19 – the disease caused by the new coronavirus – has gained tens of millions of followers on social media and been dubbed “Dad Zhang”.
The 51-year-old first started getting attention at the end of January when he told media he assigned doctors who were Communist Party members to work at a hospital on the front line of the coronavirus outbreak in Shanghai. The decision was non-negotiable, he said.
Zhang said he needed to send more doctors to replace the first batch that had been sent to the hospital, whom he praised for spending weeks dealing with coronavirus cases and placing their lives at risk at a time when little was known about the new virus.
“We should not abuse dutiful people,” he said in a video. “Didn’t [party members] all pledge an oath when they joined? … I don’t care if [they] agree or not … You can do it out of belief. You can do because of the party’s rules. Just do it.”
His comments won much support on Chinese social media, where many people said they were fed up with what they saw as rhetoric and empty talk from the government over the outbreak.