Young Doctor Who First Warned About Coronavirus Dies; Public Demands Apology for Dr Li Wenliang’s Tragic Death

Li Wenliang, a Wuhan doctor, who was the first one to warn of the deadly Coronavirus, died to the very same virus this morning. Since then, there has been a lot of anger on social media. In case, you recall, initially Wenliang was pulled up by the authorities for causing unnecessary panic.

Initially, there were a lot of conflicting reports about the doctor’s passing away. But an official statement from a Wuhan hospital has put a rest to the rumours.

In December, Li posted in his medical school alumni group on the Chinese messaging app WeChat that seven patients from a local seafood market had been diagnosed with a SARS-like illness and were quarantined in his hospital in Wuhan.

Soon after he posted the message, Li was accused of rumour-mongering by the Wuhan police. He was hospitalised on January 12 and tested positive for the virus on February 1.

After learning of his death, Chinese netizens outpoured their anger on social media. Topics that heavily trended were Wuhan government owes Dr. Li Wenliang an apology, We want freedom of speech, I want freedom of speech, etc.

Top comments under the Wuhan Central Hospital's statement about Li's death included "I've learned two words: political rescue & performative rescue" and "Countless young people will mature overnight after today: the world is not as beautiful as we imagined. Are you angry? If any of us here is fortunate enough to speak up for the public in the future, please make sure you remember tonight's anger."