A disabled boy has died after being left to fend for himself when his father was quarantined over the deadly new coronavirus in China.
Yan Cheng, who was confined to a wheelchair because of cerebral palsy, was abandoned at home when his father was isolated because of a fever.
The 17-year-old, who could not speak, walk or eat by himself, and whose mother died several years earlier, had no one to feed him or help him with daily life.
His father, Yan Xiaowen, was taken into quarantine on January 22, and diagnosed with the potentially deadly virus five days later.
He posted a desperate plea for help on social media, calling for someone to go and look after his son.
But the post, entitled "An appeal for help from a father diagnosed with novel coronavirus", came too late.
The teenager died on January 29, according to a statement by the Hongan county government.
"Yan Xiaowen was unable to take care of Yan Cheng's daily life (because of being in isolation)... so he entrusted his relatives, village cadres and village doctors to take care of Yan Cheng," the county government said.
The boy's death has cost senior local figures their jobs.
The local Communist Party secretary and mayor were fired because they had "failed to fulfil their responsibilities", officials said.
The son's cause of death had yet to be confirmed, they said.
News of the tragedy sparked an outpouring of rage and grief on social media, where authorities in Hubei have already been criticised for withholding information about the infection.
On Weibo, the hashtag "The father of Hubei's cerebral palsy victim speaks out" had been read 270 million times by Tuesday morning.
A hashtag about the mayor being fired had been viewed 66 million times.
"I'm so angry and sad," wrote one user. "It's too disgusting."
More than 20,000 people in China have been infected by the coronavirus, with the death toll reaching 425.
The vast majority of infections and deaths have occurred in Hubei, where the virus is thought to have emerged late last year from a market selling wild animals and their meat.
More than two dozen countries have also reported infections, mostly people who had recently travelled to Hubei.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
From FLiRT To FLuQE: What To Know About The Latest Covid Variants Covid Still Kills 1,700 A Week Around World: WHO Universal Coronavirus Vaccine? New Jab Targets Even Unknown Threats Champai Soren On His Way To Delhi Amid Big Defection Buzz: Sources Indian-Origin Family, On Way To Daughter's College, Killed In US Car Crash Woman Doctor Assaulted By Drunk Patient, His Relatives At Mumbai Hospital Punjab Girl Gang-Raped In Public Bus In Dehradun, Roadways Staff Detained After Backlash Over Freshers' Pay, Cognizant Clarifies What Techies Get MCC NEET UG Counselling 2024: Round 1 Final Seat Matrix, NRI List Out Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.