Former director of US bio firm faces 7 years in Chinese prison
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A former associate director of a US biotechnology company is facing up to seven years in prison in China after allegedly hiding her coronavirus symptoms and flying from Los Angeles to Beijing in hopes of receiving treatment.
The Chinese national, 37, gobbled down anti-fever medicine at LAX to suppress her high temperatures before boarding the 13-hour flight back to her homeland with her husband and son.
The mother-of-one, named as Jie Li, worked for Biogen, a multinational firm at the center of an outbreak of the coronavirus in Massachusetts. Around 30 per cent of the confirmed cases in the state are believed to be linked to a conference held by the company in Boston in February.
Ms Li claimed to have been denied the coronavirus test three times by American doctors before resorting to the drastic measure last week.
She was diagnosed with the coronavirus hours after landing in Beijing last Friday, said the Beijing Center for Diseases Prevention and Control. Her husband, a 37-year-old university lecturer, tested positive on Monday.
Police are investigating her on suspicion of preventing the control of infectious diseases.
The criminal charge carries a maximum prison term of seven years if 'the consequences are particularly serious’, according to the Chinese criminal law.
The picture is believed to show the couple's home in Belmont, a suburb of Boston
The Belmont Health Department has been trying to speak with Ms Li by leaving a notice on the door of her home (pictured)
Ms Li reportedly lives in Belmont, a western suburb of Boston, with her husband, who is also a Chinese citizen.
She failed to inform the Belmont Health Department of her travel plans after the authority was notified by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health that she had been diagnosed with the killer infection, reported Belmontonian citing an official statement issued on Thursday.
The authority has been trying to speak with her by leaving a notice on her door.
A spokesperson from the Beijing health authority said that, according to Ms. Li, she fell ill after attending a company meeting.
She said she developed fevers as high as 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) after one of her colleagues had tested positive.
Ms. Li is said to be the former associate director of bio-statistics for Biogen, a multinational biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
But according to the Boston Globe, Ms. Li did not attend the Biogen conference in Boston in late February but came into contact with someone who was there.
Nearly 100 coronavirus cases have been connected to that conference, the report said.
Ms. Li told Chinese officials that she started to experience a series of coronavirus symptoms, including chills, fevers, coughs and runny nose, from March 1.
She went to a local hospital on March 3 and was given anti-viral medication. She underwent X-ray checks of her lungs during two subsequent visits to the same hospital and the results showed no abnormality.
But on March 11 when she visited the hospital again, her scan indicated she had pneumonia.
Ms. Li said the hospital refused to admit her.
She also claimed that she had applied to take coronavirus tests three times in the US, but all of her applications had been rejected.
To receive further treatment, Ms. Li took Air China flight CA988 to travel to Beijing from Los Angeles on March 12.
Beijing police said that Ms. Li took anti-fever medicine before boarding her plane and then failed to inform the flight attendants of her health condition with honesty.
During the flight, she told flight attendants that she suffered from low blood pressure and stewards arranged her to sit at the back of the cabin.
Upon her arrival in Beijing, she was taken to the hospital, together with her husband and son, after claiming to suffer fevers, muscle weakness, and coughs on her health declaration card.
The police are investigating her while she and her husband, Mr. Hong, are receiving treatment in quarantine.
Their son had no symptoms, according to the latest briefing from Beijing.
A total of 59 people have been quarantined in China after coming into close contact with Ms. Li, the police said.
Biogen confirmed that Ms. Li used to be an employee in its US offices.
The company said that Ms. Li 'made the personal decision to travel to China without informing the company and ignoring the guidance of health experts. She is no longer an employee of Biogen.'
It added: 'We are deeply dismayed by the situation as reported by the media in China. '
It remains unclear if Ms. Li was sacked or quit by herself.
Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk
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