China:Wrong to have rapped Wuhan doctor

POLICE in China’s virus-hit Wuhan City acted “inappropriately” by punishing a doctor who blew the whistle on the novel coronavirus outbreak that has now killed nearly 9,000 worldwide, a Chinese government probe found on Thursday.

L i Wen l ia ng, one of a group of doctors in Wuhan who shared posts on social media warning of a Sarslike v irus spreading in t he cit y in December, was repr i ma nded by pol ice for sha r i ng t he i nfor mat ion and made to sign a statement agreeing not to commit any more “law-brea king actions”.

Li’s death from the virus in February prompted a national outpouring of grief as well as anger at the government’s handling of the crisis, and bold demands for freedom of speech.

A central government investigation initiated after Li’s death found that Wuhan police “acted inappropriately by issuing a disciplinary letter” and took “irregu l a r l a w e n f o rc e ment procedures,” state broadcaster CCTV reported on Thursday.

The investigators also found that Li’s colleagues had repeatedly attempted to resuscitate the 34-yearold before he was declared dead because he was “very young”, CCTV said.

State media said Li’s colleagues told investigators, “as long as there was a bit of hope we were unwilling to give up, at the time there were no other factors”.

The central government investigators suggested that Wuhan authorities “supervise and rectify the matter”, and urged local police to revoke the disciplinary statement issued to Li, according to CCTV.

Wuhan police later issued a statement saying that giving Li a disciplinary statement had been “wrong” and they “apologise to his family for the mistake”.

The deput y di rector of the Zhongnan Road police station was given a “demerit” on his record a nd t he officer on duty was handed an “administrative warning”, it added.

Li ’s death had been reported by state media. The Wuhan Central Hospital confirmed Li’s death hours later, after saying he was undergoing emergency treatment.

China repor ted zero domestic Covid-19 infections for the first time on Thursday, even as nations across the world have shut down in a desperate effort to contain the pandemic.