Coronavirus: Chinese doctor Li Wenliang who raised the alarm is dead

Li Wenliang is now among some 565 victims of the coronavirus. The 34-year-old Chinese doctor, one of the first to give the alert on 2019-nCoV, succumbed to the disease this Thursday evening (2:58 am Friday, local time). He died at the Wuhan Central Hospital, where he was treated. "We deeply regret it and regret it," the hospital said on the Chinese social network Weibo.

Chinese doctor #LiWenliang, one of the eight "whistleblowers" who tried to warn other medics of the coronavirus outbreak but were reprimanded by local police, died from #coronavirus at 2:58 am Friday, the hospital where he received treatment announced. https://t.co/eCrNha7Nn1 pic.twitter.com/WYwDxZFBej

Official Chinese media had announced the death of the ophthalmologist this Thursday afternoon, before coming back to this information. "The Wuhan central hospital told Weibo that Li Wenliang is still in the intensive care unit," the Global Times newspaper corrected on Twitter. The medical establishment finally announced his death later that evening.

DR

This coaster has caused unprecedented anger among Chinese Internet users, report Twitter users.

A message on WeChat on December 30

Li Wenliang was raised as a whistleblower by public opinion and the government after being silenced by authorities in Wuhan. The young doctor, whose wife is pregnant with their second child, gave information on December 30, 2019 that a virus resembling SARS was spreading in Wuhan.

"Seven people are in quarantine," he wrote on WeChat - the most popular instant messenger in China - to his fellow medical students. The SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) epidemic, which started in 2002 in China, killed 349 people in the country and 774 worldwide. In a few hours, the screenshots of his message went viral.

VIDEO. Surviving Wuhan: "It feels like a post-apocalyptic video game"

Wuhan police summoned the doctor on January 3, accusing him of "spreading rumors online" and "severely disrupting social order." Li Wenliang had to sign a declaration acknowledging his "crime". But given the scale of the epidemic, the Chinese authorities have radically changed their rhetoric, welcoming the ophthalmologist's gesture. From a threat to public order, he became a hero.

Newsletter - The essentials of the news

I'm registering

Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to allow you to receive our news and commercial offers. Find out more

Li Wenliang fell ill in mid-January. He announced on February 1 that he had coronavirus. His death is however a surprise in view of the mortality statistics of the virus. 80% of 2019-nCoV victims were aged 60 or over and 75% already suffered from health problems, the National Health Commission (CNS) said on February 4, based on previous reports.