Li Wenliang: Corona virus death of Wuhan doctor sparks
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| Li Wenliang |
The death of a Chinese doctor who tried to warn about the corona virus outbreak has sparked widespread public anger and grief in China.
Dr Li Wenliang, who was hailed a hero for raising the alarm about the coronavirus in the early days of the outbreak, but died due to infection. Dr. Li Wenliang died after contracting the virus while treating patients in Wuhan.
The virus causes severe acute respiratory infection and symptoms usually start with a fever, followed by a dry cough.
According to Chinese site Pear Video, Dr Li's wife is due to give birth in June.
Last December he sent a message to fellow medics warning of a virus he thought looked like Sars - another deadly corona virus. But he was told by police to "stop making false comments " and was investigated for "spreading rumors"
China's leadership had already faced accusations of downplaying the severity of the virus - and initially trying to keep it secret.
Li Wenliang (12 October 1986 – 7 February 2020) was a Chinese ophthalmologist. A physician at Wuhan Central Hospital, Li warned his government and colleagues in December 2019 about a possible outbreak of an illness that resembled severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which later acknowledged as COVID-19. He became a whistle-blower when his warnings were later shared publicly for which, On 3 January 2020, Wuhan police summoned and admonished him for "making false comments on the Internet". Li returned to work, later contracted the virus from an infected patient and died from the disease on 7 February 2020, at age 33.
Whistle blower of corona virus pandemic
Li-Wenliang's chat in the "Wuhan University Clinical-Medicine-2004" Wechat group
on 30 December 2019 (CST 17:43)
Li: There are 7 confirmed cases of SARS at Huanan Seafood Market.
Li: (Picture of diagnosis report)
Li: (Video of CT scan results)
Li: They are being isolated in the emergency department of our hospital's Houhu Hospital District.
(CST 18:42)
Someone: Be careful, or else our chat group might be dismissed.
Li: The latest news is, it has been confirmed that they are corona virus infections, but the exact virus is being sub typed.
Li: Don't circulate the information outside of this group, tell your family and loved ones to take caution.
Li: In 1937, corona viruses were first isolated from chicken...
Source: screenshots in The Beijing News report
On 30 December 2019, Li saw a patient's report which showed a positive result with a high confidence level for SARS corona virus tests. The report had originated from Ai Fen, director of the emergency department at Wuhan Central hospital, who became alarmed after receiving laboratory results of a patient whom she had examined who exhibited symptoms akin to influenza resistant to conventional treatment methods. The report contained the word: “Sars corona virus". Ai circled the word "SARS", and sent it to a doctor at another hospital in Wuhan. From there it spread throughout medical circles in Wuhan, where it reached Li. At 17:43, he wrote in a private WeChat group of his medical school classmates: "7 confirmed cases of SARS were reported [to hospital] from Huanan Seafood Market." He also posted the patient's examination report and CT scan image. At 18:42, he added "the latest news is, it has been confirmed that they are corona virus infections, but the exact virus strain is being sub typed". Li asked the WeChat group members to inform their families and friends to take protective measures. He was upset when the discussion gained a wider audience than he expected.
After screenshots of his WeChat messages were shared on Chinese forums and gained huge attention, the supervision department summoned him to talk, where he was blamed for leaking the information. On 3 January 2020, police from the Wuhan Public Security Bureau investigated the case and interrogated Li, giving him a warning notice and censuring him for "making false comments on the Internet". He was made to sign a letter of admonition promising not to do it again. The police warned him that if he failed to learn from the admonition and continued to violate the law he would be prosecuted.
After which, Li returned to work in the hospital and contracted the virus on 8 January. On 31 January, he published his experience in the police station with the letter of admonition on social media. His post went viral and users questioned why the doctors who gave earlier warnings were silenced by the authorities.
Source: Wikipedia
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