Death of virus whistleblower in China prompts anger and grief
● Death toll rises to 636 people ● More than 31,400 infected
The death of a Chinese doctor who tried to warn about the coronavirus outbreak has sparked widespread public anger and grief in China.
China’s top Communist Party investigators are looking into “relevant issues raised by the public” about Li Wenliang, who died after contracting the virus while treating patients in Wuhan.
The party’s announcement yesterday came as the death toll in mainland China rose to at least 636. The outbreak has now infected more than 31,400 people worldwide.
Mr Li, 34, was one of eight medical professionals in Wuhan who tried to warn colleagues and others when the government did not. He wrote on his Weibo microblog account that on 3 December he saw a test sample that indicated the presence of a coronavirus similar to Sars, which killed nearly 800 people in a 2002-3 outbreak.
The doctor wrote that after he reported seven patients had contracted the virus, he was visited on 3 January by police, who forced him to sign a statement admitting to having spread falsehoods and warning him of punishment if he continued.
Mr Li wrote that he developed a cough on 10 January, fever on 11 January and was hospitalised on 12 January, after which he began having trouble breathing. His death was confirmed early yesterday, prompting a deluge of messages of mourning and outrage at the way he and the seven others were treated.
Even the staunchly pro-government Global Times newspaper noted the eight whistleblowers’ treatment “was evidence of local authorities’ incompetence to tackle a contagious and deadly virus”.
Most of the deaths from the virus have been of older people with existing health problems, but disease specialists said Mr Li’s work may have increased his exposure and made his illness severe.
Dr David Heymann, a professor of infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: “It’s generally believed that an increased dose of a virus or pathogen in some persons can cause increased severity of disease.”
Paul Hunter, a professor of health protection at the University of East Anglia, said opthamologists sit very close to their patients during examinations. “One would expect that an opthamologist would be exposed to a much higher dose of the virus if he was treating a patient who was actually infected,” he said. “It’s plausible his death was a dose-related issue, but we don’t know for certain.”
China’s state media said president Xi Jinping had meanwhile urged the US to “respond reasonably” to the virus outbreak in a phone call with US president Donald Trump.
“A people’s war against the virus has been launched,” Mr Xi was quoted as saying by broadcaster CCTV. “We hope the US side can assess the epidemic in a calm manner and adopt and adjust its response measures in a reasonable way.” Beijing has complained the US was flying its citizens out of Wuhan, but not providing any assistance to China.
Mr Trump later tweeted that “great discipline is taking place in China” and Mr Xi was leading strongly in the fight against the virus. Mr Xi said China has “made the most comprehensive and strict measures of prevention and control” and the efforts were “gradually yielding positive results”.
Wuhan has added thousands of treatment beds by building two new hospitals and converting gymnasiums and other spaces into places where patients can be housed in isolation. Thousands of military and civilian medical workers have been sent to the city.
However, those inside the quarantine area speak of a medical system completely overwhelmed. Mother-of-two Rong Qin, 32, said she was told by local officials even those with a positive diagnosis have to wait for beds.