Hospital Director's Death<br />Prompts Doctors and Nurses Killed by<br />COVID-19 to Be Designated 'Martyrs' Local government authorities<br />recently announced the death of<br />Liu Zhiming, the director of the<br />Wuchang hospital in Wuhan, China. According to a statement from the Wuhan Municipal<br />Health Commission, Zhiming made “important contributions<br />in the work of fighting and controlling” of COVID-19. He is at least the seventh health worker to die of the<br />coronavirus so far, which has claimed over 1,800 lives. Zhiming is also the most senior health worker known to have<br />died as a result of his work containing and treating the virus. His death has renewed criticism of<br />the danger frontline medical workers<br />are being placed in, as they are often<br />overworked and overstretched. However, thanks to the sacrifices of these<br />medical professionals, more than 12,500<br />patients in China have recovered from COVID-19<br />and been discharged from hospitals. State media reports that the doctors and nurses<br />who have died as a result of their work to contain<br />COVID-19 will now be officially known as “martyrs.”
