During the two-year Covid-19 pandemic, most of us have experienced at least one PCR test, often uncomfortable but harmless in the end. However, that wasn’t the case for Hong Kong actor Wong He, who posted images of his bloodied face and mask on Facebook on April 3.
The 54-year-old actor described how a healthcare worker at Taiwan customs injured him during a PCR test. He wrote: “I did a PCR test at Taiwan customs and was injured by a healthcare worker. The person responsible disappeared, and no one there knows her name, only that she’s from a hospital.”
Wong He had flown from London to Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport. In a subsequent post titled “Wanted,” he provided more details: “A female healthcare worker, about 1.5 meters tall, wearing full PPE, held a swab stick in her right hand and inserted it into my right nostril. At the same time, she pushed my head forward with her left hand. I felt pain and recoiled. She assured me it wouldn’t hurt, but when she repeated the procedure, it caused my nostril to bleed.”
According to Wong He, the healthcare worker quickly left the scene, and none of the staff knew her identity. Another staff member later handed him a long piece of toilet paper to stop the bleeding, but he refused to use it.
Wong He also shared that after making a police report, he was told to check the government’s coronavirus platform for the healthcare worker’s information. He added that the officers said they would not be taking a statement from him.
The actor tested positive for Covid-19 and is now under quarantine at a facility in Nantou.
His posts have drawn sympathy from some, but others have been critical. One comment, which received over 760 likes, remarked: “The tissue might not have come from the toilet. With your blame-seeking attitude, you treat the swabbers like criminals. You’re positive for Covid-19, and now you’re complaining about being in quarantine at Nantou. This is Taiwan, not a place for your arrogance.”