Medical Worker from Shanghai Appeal for Overseas Attention and Help

Location: The Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles Amid the global coronavirus outbreak, a medical worker from Shanghai discloses the real situation inside Chinese hospitals. He was speaking at a rally in Los Angeles in support of medical professionals inside China. The Los Angeles Visual Artists Guild organized a protest in front of the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles on Feb. 27. The protest was in support of two nurses who published a letter on Lancet on Feb. 24 to appeal for international assistance in China’s fight against the coronavirus. The Chinese communist regime immediately ordered the two nurses to retract the letter and blocked all content or comments on the internet inside China. Yao Jia (pseudonym), a medical worker from Shanghai, also stepped up to give a short speech in support of the two nurses. "Hello, everyone. I am from Shanghai. I am a medical worker. Frontline doctors like me, from local doctors in Wuhan to those who came from the outside, all wore protective suits that were of inferior quality. I don’t know how come the Wuhan government claimed that there was no shortage of medical resources, and supplies were abundant. Even the amount of face masks that the Mayor of Wuhan mentioned, if you do a calculation, you will know that on average, three Wuhan citizens have to share one mask based on his figures. Therefore, I believe we should call for international attention to the real situation in Wuhan so that people there could be granted basic human rights. Thanks!” During an interview with Voice Of America, Yao expressed several times his sorrow and sadness. He pointed out that it usually was difficult for many patients to have access to professional treatment from experts or authoritative doctors. Only those with special networking connections inside the hospital could expect those services. Especially now, when all hospitals in Wuhan have to face a large number of coronavirus patients. “I sadly realized that this was magnified and made clearer and more obvious by the coronavirus outbreak this time,” he said. To further illustrate his point, Yao said his former medical school classmates, currently in Wuhan, said many patients sent to the most qualified hospitals each carried a label specifying that “this person is so-and-so’s friend/family member.” At the same time, many other infected people are denied treatment.