A B.C. woman says her husband, a Canadian citizen, has died in China after demonstrating possible symptoms of the novel coronavirus, and hopes Global Affairs Canada will fight to discover the truth about his death.
A B.C. woman says her husband, a Canadian citizen, has died in China after demonstrating possible symptoms of the novel coronavirus and hopes Global Affairs Canada will fight to discover the truth about his death.
“I feel pushed around,” said Aijun Yu, 49, a permanent resident living in Surrey, B.C., by Skype on Monday, with the help of an interpreter. “I don’t know what to do.”
Yu said her husband, David Zhao, 57, travelled to China on a business trip on Jan. 13 in perfect health.
Although Zhao never travelled to Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak, his boss and colleagues are from the city of Wuhan, she said.
Zhao was vice president of Canada Stewart Energy Group Ltd., and Yu said the company has regular meetings with people from the city of 11 million.
According to what a colleague told Yu’s family, her husband was coughing, vomiting and had diarrhea in the days leading up to his death. Yu said she strongly suspects he died of COVID-19.
“These symptoms are very similar to this virus,” she said.
Zhao was later found dead, alone, in the apartment his company pays for. Yu doesn’t know the exact date of his death, but suspects it was Jan. 22.
Church pastor contacted Jan. 23
Yu said she first heard the news about her husband’s death from her church pastor, who was contacted by the RCMP on Jan. 23, after being unable to reach Yu. The pastor was listed a