Photo: Weibo
A Chinese doctor who had tried to warn citizensabout the new coronavirusbefore the outbreak died Thursday from the disease, according to friends and colleagues,The Washington Postreported.
Li Wenliang was a 34-year-old ophthalmologist at Wuhan Central Hospital inWuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. He had told his medical school alumni group about the threat of a new, SARS-like virus in late December — before the Chinese government had publicly shared that the deadly respiratory illness was spreading throughout the country.
Li returned to his job at Wuhan Central Hospital, where patients continued to come in with the mysterious respiratory illness. The Chinese governmentkept the new coronavirus under wrapsuntil Jan. 7, while telling citizens not to believe online rumors about a virus. The new coronavirus has now spread to 28,275 people worldwide,including 12 in the U.S., and 563 people in China have died.
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On Jan. 10, Li said hestarted coughingand checked himself into his hospital the next day. He was diagnosed with coronavirus three weeks later, on Feb. 1. Li spent his final days in the hospital’s intensive care unit, and tried to stay upbeat, posting on social media that he intended to get better and return to his job.
“I’ve seen the support and encouragement so many people online have given me,” he wrote on Weibo, the Chinese messaging app. “It makes my feel a little more relaxed in my heart.”
Li said that his parents are both hospitalized with fever, and that he lives with his pregnant wife and young child, though he did not say if any of them have tested positive for coronavirus.
Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization, shared his condolences on WHO’s Twitter account on Thursday.
source: people.com
