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SHANGHAI: Beijing, China’s capital, will protect whistleblowers who release information about public health emergencies, it said on Sunday (Sept. 27), as part of the country’s efforts to fix some of the systemic failures that hampered its initial response. to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Beijing city government said it would offer rewards to healthcare workers who disclose vital information about any impending health emergency, and will also ensure that their safety and legal rights are protected.
In urgent situations, workers could bypass the chain of command and report health risks directly to the local government, he said, and as long as their intention was not “malicious,” they would not face punishment if the information turned out to be false.
Beijing also said it will strengthen its monitoring network, establish hospitals specializing in infectious diseases and establish “sentinels” at the community level to monitor symptoms such as fever.
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The central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the COVID-19 outbreak began, has been criticized for its heavy-handed treatment of medical personnel who first tried to reveal details of a new and unknown illness similar to pneumonia. end of 2019.
Li Wenliang, one of the doctors warned by the local police, later became one of the most prominent victims of the coronavirus, sparking outrage across the country.
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Chinese officials have acknowledged that the COVID-19 outbreak exposed “deficiencies” in its ability to handle epidemics and have promised to take steps to improve early warning systems and free the flow of information.
The government said in May it would empower local disease control centers to take early action in the event of a new outbreak, though experts said the measures did not go far enough to address “systemic” failures. .
READ: ‘Is that all?’ – Chinese report on death of doctor who raised COVID-19 alarm disappoints
They say that China’s top-down political system does not give local governments the authority or funding to take the timely measures necessary to address the outbreaks.
Last month, the Shenzhen city government also released new guidelines that allow medical workers to disclose information about infectious diseases. They also empowered local authorities to take emergency measures more quickly.
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