Moment Shanghai COVID ‘victim’ wakes up in bodybag on way to morgue
Shocking video captures the moment several front-line workers in COVID-stricken Shanghai realize a body bag they were taking to a morgue actually contained a live person.
Two mortuary workers, who are clad in protective gear, recoil in horror as they make the startling discovery while lifting the body from a vehicle, the video posted by the South China Morning Post shows.
The footage, shot by a bystander, shows the men unzipping the yellow bag in front of an employee of a nursing home, exposing the patient’s head, before they step back in shock.
The care facility staff member then checks for signs of life and reseals the bag, causing the bystander to protest out of fear the patient would suffocate.
After some deliberations, the elderly patient is wheeled back to the facility.
“The nursing home is such a mess. They sent a living person on a hearse and said they were dead. The undertaker staff said they were still moving … It is irresponsible, really irresponsible,” the person who captured the scene says, according to CNN.
On China’s social media platform Weibo, many users expressed disbelief about the error.
“The problems in Shanghai are fully exposed this time,” one person wrote, according to CNN.
“This counts as intentional homicide,” another said.
On Monday, the district government said in a statement that the man was in stable condition.
Authorities have fired or reprimanded several people — including a director of the care home and a doctor — following a quick investigation of the incident amid the backlash, the South China Morning Post reported.
The blunder triggered a new wave of horror for many Shanghai residents under harsh lockdowns since March 28 as the local government faces mounting criticism for its handling of the Omicron outbreak.
