Brave Wuhan Medical Staff ‘Are On A Suicide Mission Just Like Doomed Chernobyl Rescue Workers’

WUHAN medical staff treating coronavirus patients are being compared to Chernobyl firefighters “on a suicide mission”.

​

American politician and entrepreneur Solomon Yue made the harrowing analogy in response to a video of relatives saying goodbye to recruited medical staff who are being sent to Wuhan.

​

US government-funded Radio Free Asia (RFA) posted the footage, which shows heartbroken relatives sobbing and hugging each other for support as their loved ones board a staff coach.

Solomon Yue tweeted in response to the video: "Like Chernobyl firefighters, some of those doctors and nurses WON'T come back to their loved ones.”

“This is a coronavirus suicide mission for many of them. God bless them."

​

The Chernobyl comparison has also been made in regards to the government’s handling of the epidemic – which has killed 82 people and infected at least 2,887 worldwide – with some Chinese people likening it to the world's worst nuclear accident.


As first reported by Insider, Chinese film and book review website Douban documents a series of comments about the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in a discussion group about HBO's historical period drama Chernobyl.

Several users wrote they were "[witnessing] history," drawing parallels between the Chinese local authorities' attempts to suppress information about the Wuhan outbreak to the Soviet Union's attempts to cover up the nuclear accident at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine.

While Soviet Union officials delayed evacuation and withheld information about the nuclear radiation leaks, Wuhan residents have accused authorities of not warning the public about the potential risks of the coronavirus outbreak.

In a comment which has since been deleted, one user even referred to the outbreak as "Chernobyl 2020”.

Another user commented: "The first time I saw ["Chernobyl,"] I had to stop a few times because it was so stupid and depressing.”

"Watching it this time, my colleagues in Wuhan told me ambulances noises are nonstop, turns out we are the real Chernobyl..."

​

The criticism comes as the mayor of Wuhan admitted that information about the coronavirus was not released quickly enough.

Appearing on state television, he said: “We were not sufficiently in time, and we did not make good use of many helpful information.”

China's president Xi Jinping yesterday warned of a "grave situation" as he said the killer coronavirus was "accelerating its speed".

Terrified Wuhan residents have now resorted to locking themselves in their homes, fearing the threat of the deadly virus.

Videos posted to social media show the locals lined up at the windows shouting messages of solidarity.

A refrain of “Wuhan, jiayou” can be heard in one video. “Jiayou” – literally “add oil” – is a Chinese phrase that can roughly be translated to “keep going” or “hang in there” and is commonly used to emphasise perseverance and determination.

​

An estimated 44,000 cases of the coronavirus were suspected in Wuhan as of January 27, according to the South China Morning Post, with 81 confirmed deaths due to the virus.

Source