Doctor who blew whistle over coronavirus has died
Beijing: Dr Li Wenliang, one of eight people who tried to warn about the novel coronavirus when it first emerged in Wuhan, now the epicentre of the disease, but was reprimanded by local Police, was proclaimed dead yesterday from the virus, according to the Central Hospital of Wuhan.
“After emergency treatment, Li Wenliang passed away,” the Central Hospital of Wuhan announced on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter.
“We deeply regret and mourn Li’s death.”
The doctor’s death triggered an outpouring of millions of comments on China’s social media sites as well as concern from the international community.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Dr Li Wenliang,” tweeted the World Health Organisation (WHO).
“We all need to celebrate work that he did on 2019nCoV.”
According to the doctor’s post on Weibo, on December 30, Dr Li, an ophthalmologist at the Central Hospital of Wuhan, warned in the online chat group WeChat that he had seen a report that showed positive test results of SARS for seven patients.
On January 3, Dr Li and the seven others were summoned by Wuhan Police for “spreading
fake information on the internet”. They were reprimanded, but not fined or detained, the Police said.
Dr Li continued his normal work at the Wuhan hospital until January 10 when he came down with a cough and fever, symptoms of the coronavirus. Several Weibo posts said Li had died from the novel coronavirus and they went viral on social media, sparking immense sorrow and outrage of netizens.