China Launches Criminal Probe on Coronavirus Patient for Visiting Restaurant

Government authorities in northwest China’s Xi’an city recently launched a criminal investigation into a local resident surnamed Yao for allegedly “obstructing the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases” by failing to self-isolate after knowingly contracting the Chinese coronavirus, China’s state-run Global Times reported Tuesday.

“Yao’s behavior violated the relevant provisions of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China, and relevant authorities filed a case for investigation on suspicion of obstructing the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases,” the newspaper reported on March 15 citing statements by the municipal government of Xi’an, which is the capital of Shaanxi province.

Yao allegedly performed a series of actions within the last two weeks that made him the target of the ongoing criminal probe, starting with his visit to a Xi’an restaurant on March 5. Local health officials had apparently flagged the restaurant in question as a site people must report having visited, as a person who later tested positive for the Chinese coronavirus dined at the establishment days earlier. Yao chose not to disclose his dining experience at the restaurant to local Communist Party officials per official government protocol.

“Yao did not report the travel itinerary as required even when the local authorities published the travel itineraries of the confirmed case and Yao was clearly aware of the fact that they had dined at the same restaurant,” the Global Times detailed on Tuesday.

The man exhibited symptoms of the Chinese coronavirus shortly after his visit to the restaurant, though he again chose to keep the development to himself, according to the report.

“Yao even failed to report to the local health authorities after showing obvious symptoms of COVID-19 [Chinese coronavirus] later on. Yao self-medicated and repeatedly went to public places, causing more than 10 people to be infected with the virus,” Xi’an’s government alleged.

Xi’an reported 53 new, locally transmitted infections of the Chinese coronavirus on March 14. The city’s latest outbreak of the disease has seen local health officials document 245 infections since March 5. Xi’an’s Chinese coronavirus epidemic is part of a nationwide resurgence of the disease that spread across 28 Chinese provinces and regions as of March 15.

The epidemic prevention and control center of Xi’an announced on March 15 all of the city’s 12.9 million residents would be banned from traveling out of Xi’an for an indefinite period of time starting that same day.

“Residents are not allowed to leave the city except in cases of special needs. The green [QR] code and a negative nucleic acid test result within 24 hours are required upon departure,” Xi’an’s government said in a statement.