China’s coronavirus patients subject to abuse and bullying as new outbreaks emerge
- Covid-19 patients are being named and shamed online by aggressive vigilantes
- Cyberbullying is rife online in China and experts say better education is needed
In China, where a zero-tolerance approach is still being deployed against Covid-19, infection with the virus can mean not just physical suffering but also mental pain.
A 38-year-old father surnamed Lin and his family were among the first patients in a recent outbreak in southeastern China and were subjected to abuse.
The man, who in August travelled back from Singapore where he worked and was suspected to be patient zero in the latest outbreak in Fujian province in September, had to plead for mercy on social media after his identity was published and he was bullied online.
“My whole family got cyberbullied. We received abuse and curses from many people, which caused insuppressible terror and mental damage. We can’t live like normal people any more,” Lin wrote in a Weibo post on September 17, a week after he and his son tested positive for the coronavirus.
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People online said he should not have returned to China. They also claimed he did not isolate himself strictly on arrival, and caused an outbreak that led to large-scale testing and lockdowns in the province, a method China typically uses to quash the virus.
