Ministry refutes claims of children orphaned by virus

The Ministry of Civil Affairs said Friday that no child was orphaned by novel coronavirus over the past few months, in response to false claims that "nearly 400 children lost their adult family members and became orphans".

The claims emerged after the ministry on April 8 released figures saying 15 provinces have detected 393 children who were rendered temporarily guardianless during the outbreak.

While speaking at a quarterly news conference, ministry official Ni Chunxia explained the number refers to those whose parents were isolated for infections or suspicious symptoms, or those whose parents were medics fighting the coronavirus and thus could not serve as guardians.

Ni, deputy head of the ministry's child welfare department, said the number has since dropped to 194, as more parents were released from medical observation or finished frontline work.

Neighborhood authorities have rolled out temporary care services in accordance with guidelines and circulars issued by central authorities since early February, she said.

Moreover, no child has lost both parents to the outbreak, after local authorities carried out extensive interviews, inspections and visits, and the conclusions were also supported by data from the National Health Commission, she added.