China: Female medical staff rallies against government amid coronavirus scare

China's fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak has left several people angry as the government has allegedly neglected frontline female medical workers who have struggled to access menstrual products, battled with ill-fitting equipment and had their heads shaved. Women in China have also rallied against the measures they deem discriminatory. According to international media reports, several medical staff were also given birth control pills in order to delay their periods. 

The deadly virus has disrupted the lives of tens of millions of people who are under the lockdown in central Hubei province. Once the workers spoke out about avoiding using toilets to conserve their protective suits, several people also took China's social media platform, Weibo, to talk about how the female medical workers were dealing with their problems and other issues. Urgent anonymous appeals from women in Hubei was also made on the social media platform. 

READ: Amritsar: Two Test Positive In Preliminary Tests For Coronavirus In Punjab

One user wrote, “Can't even eat or drink all day while wearing the isolation suit, let alone change sanitary napkins”.

According to international media reports, the complaints by the female workers led to individuals and companies to send more than 600,000 sanitary pads and period-proof underwear, which can be worn for longer, to frontline workers. China has also reportedly ordered fast-track routes for emergency supplies entering Hubei province. 

READ: Elon Musk Calls Coronavirus Panic ‘dumb’, Netizens Call Out His ‘privilege’

Death toll in China surpasses 3,000

First detected in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei Province of China, the virus outbreak has now spread across more than 80 countries since December 2019. As per reports, the total number of confirmed cases within China has reportedly hit 80,651 and more than one lakh worldwide. According to reports, the death toll in China has also surpassed 3,000 and the National Health Commission also confirmed more than 99 new cases. The death toll due to the deadly virus across the world also mounted to 3,522.

According to the reports, amid mounting cases of the deadly COVID-19, China resorted to stepping up its quarantine measures on the foreign nationals as well. It also offered assistance to the countries abroad like Iran and Japan which are severely impacted by the contagion. Minister of China's National Health Commission (NHC) Ma Xiaowei told a news conference that despite some success in containing the strain of the new virus, there was a risk of the epidemic rebounding. 

READ: South Korea Increases Travel Alert Level For Japan Amid Coronavirus Fears

READ: Stephen King Leaves Netizens Divided With His Coronavirus Meme