The municipal government said health care facilities must accept patients regardless of having a negative COVID-19 test result, apologizing for the tragedies that unfolded over the past days. Xi’an was placed in strict lockdown on Dec. 23 following a surge in infections, one of China’s worst outbreaks since the early days of the pandemic.
On Sunday, a 61-year-old man died after failing to seek timely medical attention, his daughter Wang Xin told Sixth Tone’s sister publication, The Paper, using a pseudonym. After her father experienced sudden chest pain, instead of rushing him to the hospital, she had to first seek approval from her residential community and then call an inundated ambulance hotline number, before driving herself.
