Chinese authorities and netizens express condolences over Shandong nurse’s death

By Leng Shumei Source:Global Times Published: 2020/4/7 17:48:41

Zhang Jingjing Photo: thepaper.cn Sina Weibo account



Zhang Jingjing, a nurse from East China's Shandong Province who went to Hubei Province to help fight the epidemic, will be remembered for her contribution to the COVID-19 fight, China National Health Commission (NHC) spokesperson said at a press conference on Tuesday. 

Zhang died Monday night in Ji'nan, Shandong, of a sudden cardiac arrest. 

NHC spokesperson Mi Feng said Tuesday that Zhang's death is heartbreaking, and that people will remember Zhang and appreciate all medical workers' efforts [in the COVID-19 fight]. 

Shandong and Hubei health authorities Tuesday also expressed their deepest condolences over Zhang's death. 

Zhang, a mother in her 30s, returned to Shandong from Huanggang, Hubei, on March 21 and completed a 14-day isolation in a quarantine center on April 4. She then suffered a heart attack on April 5, the morning before she was allowed to return home. 

Zhang tested negative three times for COVID-19 during quarantine, according to media reports. 

Zhang's husband, Han Wentao, is currently in Sierra Leone, West Africa, working in local construction projects. He is reportedly an employee of Shandong Iron & Steel Group Company. 

Flights have been suspended in Sierra Leone due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Han told the Global Times on Tuesday that the Chinese Embassy in Sierra Leone has contacted him and is trying to find a way to help him return to China. 

Chinese netizens said on social media that they will never forget Zhang. A video clip of Zhang receiving an interview on a plane the day she returned to Shandong has been watched over 110 million times.

"I miss my colleagues very much…I am going home, we will meet again soon," Zhang said in the interview. 

She also said in a diary written during her stay in Huanggang that she wanted to come to the city again in the future to enjoy the spring, media reported.

"She was just one step away from home. So sad!" a user on Sina Weibo commented.

"Always appreciate you and remember you, brave Shandong girl," said another. 

Zhang was one of 610 Shandong medical workers sent to Hubei to help combat the coronavirus. In total, 42,000 medical workers across China have gone to aid Hubei. 

These medical workers made great contributions to helping the country obtain a phased success in the battle against the epidemic, basically stopping the spread of the virus, Mi noted at the Tuesday press conference. 

"Over more than 70 days and nights, Chinese medical workers came under unprecedented pressure and unthinkable difficulties, and some even lost their lives," Mi said. 

In early March, Chinese health authorities posthumously awarded advanced individual titles to 34 deceased medical workers, including Li Wenliang, a Wuhan-based doctor who was called by some as a "whistleblower" for China's epidemic. 

Li, together with other 11 medics, were designated as martyrs on March 2.

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