Husband of nurse who died makes his way home

The husband of a nurse who died on Monday after helping fight COVID-19 in Hubei province for two months is expected to return home soon from Africa despite the difficult international travel difficulties caused by the pandemic.

Han Wentao, the husband of the nurse, Zhang Jingjing, who was 33, plans to take a chartered plane to Brussels, Belgium, from Sierra Leone on Saturday and then fly back to China, the Department of Consular Affairs was quoted as saying on Sina Weibo.

Han who works on construction projects in Sierra Leone, West Africa, attempted to return to China swiftly after learning of his wife's heart attack. But flights had been suspended because of the pandemic.

A pulmonary and critical care nurse, Zhang had been part of a medical team from Shandong province that was assigned help COVID-19 patients in Huanggang, Hubei. She finished her assignment recently and returned to Shandong, where she entered 14 days of routine quarantine. Zhang died on Monday from a heart attack, near the end of her quarantine.

Her death triggered nationwide sadness, and a large number of Chinese people and organizations have expressed condolences to her husband and their young daughter.