‘I had Covid for a day’: Chinese singer who deliberately infected herself to avoid missing her New Year’s Eve concert sorry after backlash
- A famous singer is embroiled in scandal after admitting she infected herself with Covid to avoid missing a concert
- Following a public outcry, Jane Zhang deleted her controversial posts and made a public apology
A famous Chinese singer who caused public outcry after admitting on social media that she deliberately infected herself with the coronavirus by seeing friends who had tested positive has apologised.
Beijing singer Jane Zhang Liangying said on Weibo last week that she had visited the homes of “sheep” – a colloquial term for virus carriers in mainland China – in preparation for an upcoming New Year's Eve concert. Zhang said she wanted to catch the virus so that she would not be at risk of infection when the concert is held at the end of December.
The 38-year-old has been a popular music star in China for nearly two decades after she won a national singing contest in 2005. Dubbed the “Dolphin Princess”, she is known for her signature whistle register and has 43 million followers on Weibo.
“I’ve been prepared for being infected,” Zhang wrote. “Then I began to catch a fever, my throat began to ache, my nose began to ache, my whole body began to ache, my head began to ache … before I finally fell asleep.
“After sleeping for a day and a night, all my symptoms disappeared … I just drank plenty of water and took vitamin C, without taking any medicine before I got well,” she added.
Zhang also shared details on her exercise workouts while infected and then asked for advice on whether her short period of illness would be considered a positive case.
“I am not sure if it’s appropriate to ask, but does my case with symptoms lasting for only one day count as a [coronavirus] positive case?” she asked on Weibo on Friday.
