Cop Eats In Stairwell To Protect Family From Coronavirus

Story By: John FengSub-EditorJoseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report

This is the front-line cop helping to contain the Wuhan coronavirus who was so scared of infecting his family that he ate a meal in his building’s stairwell.

Tong Yusheng, 35, appears in a moving social media picture showing him squatting on the steps outside his home while wolfing down a bowl of his wife’s dumplings on 27th January.

Mr Tong, who is a security and explosive ordnance disposal officer, works for the Jinniu District Public Security Bureau in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province in south-western China.

AsiaWire

The city of 14 million has been badly hit by the Wuhan coronavirus, and has been effectively locked down as health officials scramble to stop the spread of the highly contagious pneumonia-like disease.

Mr Tong told local media he and his colleagues have been tasked with patrolling and providing security for a number of the city’s so-called ‘quarantine zones’, where thousands of individuals have been asked to remain in their homes.

After completing his night shift, Mr Tong returned home for a quick meal but did not go inside to shower or change.

He was afraid of “bringing the virus home” and infecting his wife, Yu Bin, and their seven-year-old son.

Mr Tong said: “I brought a disposable bowl and left like a beggar, but as long as my wife and son are safe at home, my mind is at ease.”

The couple are originally from the city of Xiaogan in Hubei, the province where the novel coronavirus is thought to have originated, and volunteered to quarantine themselves in their home after returning to Chengdu from a family visit.

Mr Tong’s only contact with his wife is now by phone, and he also calls his video-calls his son whenever he can.

He said: “It looks like I won’t be home for a while, but my whole family supports what I do.”

Social media users have been full of praise for Mr Tong and his colleagues.

Netizen ‘amfei2019’ commented: “Thank you to these extraordinary ordinary people.”

The Wuhan coronavirus death toll has risen to 213, with nearly 10,000 infected in mainland China.

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