A Chinese nurse has died of cardiac arrest after fighting on the front line against the coronavirus epidemic in Hubei for 56 days.
The 32-year-old medic, Zhang Jingjing, was pronounced dead yesterday, according to a statement from her hospital.
She was due to go home after completing her 14-day quarantine. The nurse left behind her husband and their five-year-old daughter, Chinese media report.
At least 62 medical workers have died on the line of duty, either from the coronavirus or some other diseases, according to Chinese media.
A Chinese nurse, Zhang Jingjing (pictured), has died of cardiac arrest after fighting on the front line against the coronavirus epidemic in Hubei for 56 days
Ms Zhang will be remembered for her contribution to save COVID-19 patients in Hubei, Chinese officials said today.
A heart-breaking video shows the medical worker waving at the camera as she and her colleagues leave Hubei on a plane on March 21.
‘We will be home and meet again very soon,’ Ms Zhang said in the video.
The nurse, who worked at the Qilu Hospital, was a member of the first medical team from Shandong Province dispatched on January 26 to help Hubei fight the epidemic.
She completed her 14-day isolation on April 4 after working day and night in Huanggang city of Hubei for nearly two months. She tested negative three times during quarantine, according to the press.
The medical worker then suffered a heart attack on the next morning, just before she was allowed to return home.
The Shandong hospital announced her death yesterday after all treatment failed.
A heart-breaking video shows the medical worker, Zhang Jingjing (pictured), waving at the camera as she and her colleagues leave Hubei on a plane on March 21
‘I believe that people will appreciate and remember nurse Zhang Jingjing,’ Mi Feng (pictured), a spokesperson from the National Health Commission, said today
Ms Zhang’s husband, Han Wentao, works as a construction contractor in Sierra Leone. He was unable to bid a farewell to his wife after the African country suspended all flights to China amid the pandemic, according to the press.
Mr Han said the last time the couple saw each other was in December last year.
‘I still feel numb. I can’t believe everything,’ Mr Han wrote on his social media page when Ms Zhang was being rescued on Sunday. ‘Hold on there, my wife! Our family can’t live without you!’
Chinese Embassy in Sierra Leone said today that they have contacted Mr Han and are trying to find a way to help him return to China.
A medic sweeps away tears for her mother, a member of the medical rescue team from Fujian, on April 6, as medical workers from all over China are gradually returning home from Hubei
The news comes as China has awarded 14 medics, including Dr Li Wenliang, with the title of ‘martyr’ after they contracted the deadly contagion at work and died of it. Medical workers bow their heads during a national moment of mourning for victims of coronavirus in Wuhan
‘I believe that people will appreciate and remember nurse Zhang Jingjing,’ Mi Feng, a spokesperson from the National Health Commission, said today.
‘Over more than 70 days and nights, Chinese medical workers came under unprecedented pressure and unthinkable difficulties, and some even lost their lives,’ Mi added.
Health authorities from Shandong and Hubei also expressed their condolences today over Ms Zhang’s death.
The news comes as China has awarded 14 medics, including Dr Li Wenliang, with the title of ‘martyr’ after they contracted the deadly contagion at work and died of it.
Globally, over 1.3million people are infected with the deadly disease and the death toll has risen to 73,838.
A Chinese man wearing a protective mask wipes away his tears during national mourning to mourn victims of COVID-19 in Tienanmen Square in Beijing on Saturday