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Bayer China said on Tuesday it will immediately lay off an employee after a video went viral on Chinese social media in which the employee was obviously breaching China's coronavirus quarantine rules by taking a jog outside her home without wearing a face mask, while remaining on a 14-day mandatory quarantine. 

In the video clip, the woman in fitness clothes and clearly in short breath after a jog, bickered loudly with a Beijing community worker, who chided her for leaving her home and jogging outdoors while wearing no masks. 

The woman, who was found out to be a Chinese-Australian who recently came back to Beijing, did not apologize for her illicit behavior, but instead, yelled "Help! I'm being harassed!" while trying to open the door of her house and get in.  

After the woman slipped in to her home, the community worker called the police. In the end of the clip, two policemen showed up, warned aloud that she has to be quarantined for 14 days, adding nobody is above the law,  no matter he/she is a Chinese national or not. 

Bayer China said in a statement on its official Sina Weibo account that the company quickly checked the identity of the women in the video, after getting a clue report, and found that she is an employee of the German pharmaceutical company. The statement said that the company has decided to fire her, effective immediately.

The multinational company said it completely supports the Chinese government and Chinese people's efforts to fight the novel coronavirus, which is now raging around the world, while asking all of its employees to strictly comply with local governments' measures to fight the virus.

Bayer China's decision instantly won sweeping applause on Sina Weibo. Chinese netizens said that the firm has set a good example for other foreign enterprises that have business in China to abide by China's laws.

"The company has the right attitude. And I will buy Bayer's products to support your company," a Weibo user Shujinxincheng said. Others also posted screenshots of their placing orders for various kinds of Bayer products online.

Bayer China's statement on Sina Weibo had been forwarded 15,000 times and liked 652,000 times  as of 9:00 pm on Tuesday. 

In 2019, Bayer's sales in China jumped 25 percent year-on-year, an important driver behind its global sales growth. The company's senior executives said in previous media interview that the company relies on raw materials supply from China, and China is also one of its most important markets.

Global Times