By Riyaz ul Khaliq
ANKARA (AA) – A global rights watch body said on Monday that a citizen journalist, who was reporting on fatal coronavirus from China, has gone “missing”.
The journalist, identified as Chen Qiushi, was “forcibly quarantined”, Amnesty International said in a Twitter post, quoting his friends.
Chen had been reporting about the outbreak of deadly coronavirus — which originated in Wuhan city of China — and has killed at least 909 people in the country. One person died in Philippines.
“China must not use quarantine as a political tool to censor reporting on the coronavirus. If Chen Qiushi is in quarantine, the authorities must immediately reveal his whereabouts,” Amnesty said.
On Sunday, Chinese health authorities said 40,171 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported in the country, and 97 people died over the last 24 hours. 3,000 new cases have been detected.
“Friends & media have been unable to find him at police stations or hospitals in Wuhan,” William Nee, an analyst with Amnesty based in Hong Kong, said in a Twitter post .
The virus is said to have been transmitted to humans from animals, particularly bats.
The virus has spread to more than 20 other countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Singapore, France, Russia, Spain and India.
Many countries have evacuated their citizens from the city of Wuhan — the epicenter of the virus — and other affected areas of China, placing them in isolated medical care.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak an international emergency.
