SHANGHAI/BEIJING: A doctor who was among the first to warn about the coronavirus outbreak last December, only to be silenced by police for “spreading rumours”, was clinging to life on Friday after becoming infected with the virus, the hospital treating him reported. The Wuhan City Central Hospital said in a post around 12:45am on Friday on Chinese social media site Weibo that it was still trying to save the doctor, Li Wenliang. But his condition, it said, was critical.
Some Chinese news reports said, without clear sourcing, that Li, 34, was already dead. Jiemian, a Chinese news website, Global Times, and Bloomberg were among those who reported his death. BBC and CNN, too, reported the death of Li Wenliang attributing it to state media reports. The WHO tweeted a message of condolence but also did not specify the source of its information.
According to BBC, Dr Li was declared dead on Thursday at 9.30pm local time, triggering a huge wave of popular reaction on Weibo, following which government officials intervened and official media outlets were told to change the reports to say that the doctor was still being treated.
NYT wrote about the doctor on February 1, documenting his efforts to alert colleagues about an alarming cluster of illnesses that resembled severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, an earlier coronavirus that ravaged China nearly two decades ago. The article also reported Li’s middleof-the-night summons by unhappy health officials.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, China finished building a second hospital to isolate and treat patients and moved people with milder symptoms into makeshift quarantine centers at sports arenas, exhibition halls and other public spaces.
President Xi Jinping declared a “people’s war” against the virus as the death toll jumped by 73 to 563, with more than 28,000 infections reported. Xi, speaking to Saudi Arabia’s King Salman by telephone, said: “China has a strong mobilisation capacity, rich experience in responding to public health incidents and is confident and capable of winning the battle for epidemic prevention and control.”
In China, cities have been shut off, flights cancelled and factories closed, shutting supply lines crucial to global businesses. Companies including Hyundai Motor, Tesla , Ford, Nissan , Airbus, Adidas and Foxconn are taking hits.
Some Chinese news reports said, without clear sourcing, that Li, 34, was already dead. Jiemian, a Chinese news website, Global Times, and Bloomberg were among those who reported his death. BBC and CNN, too, reported the death of Li Wenliang attributing it to state media reports. The WHO tweeted a message of condolence but also did not specify the source of its information.
According to BBC, Dr Li was declared dead on Thursday at 9.30pm local time, triggering a huge wave of popular reaction on Weibo, following which government officials intervened and official media outlets were told to change the reports to say that the doctor was still being treated.
NYT wrote about the doctor on February 1, documenting his efforts to alert colleagues about an alarming cluster of illnesses that resembled severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, an earlier coronavirus that ravaged China nearly two decades ago. The article also reported Li’s middleof-the-night summons by unhappy health officials.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, China finished building a second hospital to isolate and treat patients and moved people with milder symptoms into makeshift quarantine centers at sports arenas, exhibition halls and other public spaces.
President Xi Jinping declared a “people’s war” against the virus as the death toll jumped by 73 to 563, with more than 28,000 infections reported. Xi, speaking to Saudi Arabia’s King Salman by telephone, said: “China has a strong mobilisation capacity, rich experience in responding to public health incidents and is confident and capable of winning the battle for epidemic prevention and control.”
In China, cities have been shut off, flights cancelled and factories closed, shutting supply lines crucial to global businesses. Companies including Hyundai Motor, Tesla , Ford, Nissan , Airbus, Adidas and Foxconn are taking hits.
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