Chinese reporter goes missing, family claims he has been 'forcibly quarantined'

Chinese lawyer and citizen reporter who got online traction for his ground reporting from the epicentre of coronavirus, Wuhan has now gone missing. According to international media reports, the friends and family of Chen Quishi have alleged that he has forcibly been quarantined by the Wuhan police for his viral posts on the outbreak. In an unprecedented development, the epidemic has claimed over 1,016 lives and infected nearly 43,090 people in China, international media reported. 

On February 4, Quishi took to Twitter to post a video which showed him visiting the under-construction square cabin hospital in Wuhan. In the video, he revealed that the local told him that it was like a ‘battlefield hospital’ or a ‘temporary shelter.’ He further said that coronavirus patients are suspected to live in concentrated areas before adding that he was still wondering about ways to avoid cross-infection. 

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‘Detained in the name of quarantine’

After he went missing, his mother and other relatives revealed that he stopped responding to phone calls on Thursday night, international media reported. They also added that they were not able to access his social media with the login credentials he left them with. According to reports, Qingdao police notified his parents that the 34-year-old has been ‘Detained in the name of quarantine.’ However, according to Quishi’s family, the police hasn’t revealed his locations yet. 

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On February 16, his mother took to Twitter to post a video in which she urged the people to help her in finding her son who has been missing for five days now. 

Reportedly, the citizen reporter gained fame on the Chinese social media platform, Weibo for his ground reporting of the Hong Kong protests and the 2019 Coronavirus outbreak. On January 29, the lawyer uploaded a video on YouTube in which he described the shortage of resources in Wuhan as well as the overwhelmed medical staff who have been levied with the duty of treating those infected. 

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