Top Chinese epidemiologist, Wu Zunyou, who led the country’s anti-Covid-19 measures that suspended access to cities and confined millions to their homes, died on Friday.
The 60-year-old epidemiologist died of pancreatic cancer, the government-backed National Business Daily reported, citing sources from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
However, an announcement from China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention about Wu’s death gave no cause, but said that “rescue measures failed.”
Notably, Wu’s death announcement comes hours after the death of China’s former Premier Li Keqiang. Li was the country’s No. 2 leader during the pandemic.
Who Was Wu Zunyou
Wu Zunyou was the chief epidemiologist of China’s CDC and one of the public faces of the country’s zero-Covid measures that not only fully suspended international travel but imposed draconian lockdowns that led to prompted protests at the end of 2022.
He was also an adjunct professor of Epidemiology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and a member of the UNAIDS Evaluation Expert Advisory Committee, according to a profile on China’s CDC website.
Wu made significant contributions in the field of infectious disease control, particularly for HIV/AIDS, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and the coronavirus disease, the CDC said.
According to China’s CDC, Wu analyzed epidemic the country’s Covid data as it was collected in the early days of the outbreak in the city of Wuhan and has since monitored epidemic trends closely.
His death became the second most-searched topic on the Chinese social media platform Weibo on Friday.