Whistlerblower MD is dead

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From South China Morning Post

Coronavirus: Whistleblower Dr Li Wenliang confirmed dead of the disease at 34, after hours of chaotic messaging from hospital

• Li, 34, was one of eight doctors who tried to share information about the coronavirus only to be reprimanded by Wuhan police
• Wuhan Central Hospital initially denied reports he was dead, saying he was in “critical condition”, before finally confirming he had died

Li Wenliang – one of the first doctors who tried to alert the public about the coronavirus outbreak, only to be reprimanded by local police – has died, Wuhan Central Hospital confirmed early Friday morning, hours after it initially denied reports of his death.

“In the fight against the pneumonia epidemic of the new coronavirus infection, our hospital's ophthalmologist, Li Wenliang, was unfortunately infected. He passed away after all the efforts we’ve taken to resuscitate him. We deeply mourn his passing,” the hospital said on its official Weibo account.

Li, 34, died at 2.58am on Friday, the hospital added.

The announcement capped several chaotic hours in which Chinese media first reported Li's death, only for the hospital to respond that Li was alive, though in critical condition.

The earlier reports of Li’s death by multiple Chinese outlets, including Beijing News and Global Times, triggered an outpouring of mourning and tribute both on Chinese social media and at health agencies trying to stem the outbreak.

“We are very sorry to hear the loss of any frontline worker who is committed to care for patients … we should celebrate his life and mourn his death with his colleagues,” said Michael Ryan, director of the World Health Organisation's health emergencies programme, said during a briefing on Thursday.

Chinese social media has been awash with anger over the death of the whistle-blower – some mourning Li’s death with candles, some demanding that the authorities apologise for the way they had treated him

“None of the police has ever apologised to you. You could have been a national hero, but the dereliction of duty has claimed your life, along with a few hundred innocent lives,” a user said on Weibo.

On December 30, Li warned his medical school classmates in an online chat group that a Sars-like illness had stricken several patients in a Wuhan hospital and that all of them were quarantined in the emergency department.

The same day that the doctor shared the message, local health authorities announced that the city had confirmed 27 cases of a new type of virus, most of them linked to a seafood market.

However, Li, along with seven other doctors who shared information about the outbreak, was summoned to the local police and forced to sign a letter promising to make no further disclosures concerning the disease.

On January 1, CCTV, the Communist Party’s mouthpiece, accused the eight doctors in Wuhan for spreading what the government had called “rumours”.

As of Friday, according to Chinese health authorities, the deadly virus had claimed 563 lives in mainland China, plus another two in Hong Kong and Philippines. The outbreak has infected more than 28,000 in China, far exceeding the 2002-03 Sars epidemic, which killed almost 800 people worldwide.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3049411/coronavirus-li-wenliang-doctor-who-alerted-authorities-outbreak