China’s Suspected COVID-19 Patients List Leaked Online, Sparking Outrage

A car is banned from leaving Ang'angxi district as the province declares an "emergency state," in Qiqihar, in Heilongjiang Province, China, on Jan. 12, 2021. STR/AFP via Getty Images

Personal information about COVID-19 patients in China was recently leaked online, sparking a heated debate about privacy.

Two government documents began circulating on the Chinese internet, dated Jan. 17 and Jan. 18 from the local disease prevention and control command center of Qinggang county, Suihua city, in northeastern China’s Heilongjiang Province.