Chinese city hospital in lockdown refuses entry of pregnant woman who loses her baby

Hospital workers in the Chinese city of Xi’an were fired after a pregnant woman was denied access due to restrictions due to the pandemic. Without care, she lost the baby.

The woman arrived at Gaoxin Hospital on the night of January 1 in labor, but was refused entry allegedly because her negative test for Covid-19 had passed four hours of validity.

The city government announced on Thursday that the hospital’s director has been suspended and that the directors of the medical and outpatient departments have been fired.

A government statement said the incident “caused widespread concern in society and severe social impact.” The Associated Press reported that the statement was read at a news conference by city health secretary Liu Shunzhi, who apologized to the woman, who is recovering in hospital.

Officials in Xi’an City and Shaanxi Province said they were investigating the case and that the baby’s death was an “accident caused by negligence”. The director of the city’s health commission received a formal warning from the Communist Party of China for failures in emergency care.

According to reports and a video that circulated widely on Chinese social media, the woman had abdominal pain and was forced to wait outside the hospital, sitting on a stool for two hours. She then had a heavy bleed and was finally admitted to the hospital, but the baby died.

The city of Xi’an, of 13 million people, has been under a strict lockdown since December 23, due to a Covid-19 outbreak. Restrictions have made life difficult for citizens, who cannot easily buy food and basic items. About 1,800 coronavirus infections have been reported in the city since December 9th.