HONG KONG — A 28-year-old hospital pharmacist who worked for 10 straight days helping to fight the coronavirus outbreak in central China has died of a heart attack, according to state media.

Song Yingjie, who was part of a medical team checking the temperatures of drivers at a motorway checkpoint in Hunan — the province directly to the south of the epicentre of the contagion — was found dead in his dormitory in the early hours of Monday (Feb 3) morning, the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily reported on Wednesday.

The native of Hengshan county, Hunan, whose regular job was as a hospital pharmacist, had worked without a break since Jan 25, the report said.

Song had been seconded to temperature check duties by the local health authority in response to a central government order for all motorists using major roads and motorways to be screened for symptoms of infection.

He worked mostly at night, but during the day was also responsible for managing and distributing medical supplies at the hospital he had worked at for the past three years.

Song’s colleagues described him as hardworking and helpful, and were shocked by his sudden death.

“He was a valued member of the team and could have had a bright future,” Mr Yang Dan, who worked with Song at the hospital, was quoted as saying in a report by The Beijing News.

“He was very motivated, hard working, and he never complained.”

According to the newspaper reports, Song had told his workmates that once things had calmed down a little he planned to visit his sister in Hubei — the province at the heart of the outbreak — where she had been stranded since it had been put under lockdown late last month.

Song’s death brings fresh attention to the challenges faced by China’s doctors, nurses and support staff as they continue to battle an outbreak that has already claimed more than 560 lives and infected more than 28,000 people.

On Saturday, health official Zhang Hui died of a heart attack at the age of 56 during his work helping to monitor how hospitals and screening checkpoints were coping across the province. SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST