Year After Covid-19 Outbreak, Angry & Lonely Wuhan Kin Struggle to Move On With Lives

Wuhan native Liu Pei’en shut down his investment business and converted to Buddhism to try to make sense of his father’s death last January from suspected Covid-19.

Zhong Hanneng still struggles to sleep or eat following the death of her son from the disease nearly 10 months ago, and says friends and relatives are shunning her family because of lingering fears of infection.

One year after the coronavirus began spreading from the city, they and other Wuhan next-of-kin are no nearer to closure, as the Chinese government’s refusal to take responsibility for early failures in the outbreak complicates the task of coming to terms with their loss.

Liu’s 78-year-old father, Liu Ouqing, a career public servant and former Communist Party secretary of Wuhan’s grain bureau, developed Covid-19 symptoms after checking in to a hospital for a routine health exam, unaware of the rapidly spreading danger. His diagnosis was never confirmed as test kits were scarce then. He died on January 29.

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