Updated February 7, 2020, 7:56 a.m.
Li Wenliang died at the age of only 34. The Chinese doctor treated patients as an ophthalmologist at the central hospital in Wuhan – and was one of the first to warn of the corona virus.
A Chinese medical doctor who was one of the first to innovate coronavirus had warned, has now died of the infection himself.
This was announced on Friday by the central hospital of the metropolis of Wuhan, where 34-year-old Li Wenliang worked. Li had contracted a patient in the fight against the virus. The “extensive efforts” to save his life were in vain.
Li Wenliang’s death is officially being investigated
The Chinese government is investigating Wenliang’s death. With the approval of the party’s central committee, the state oversight commission sent an investigation team to Wuhan, the agency said on Friday.
Li worked as an ophthalmologist in the clinic. At the end of last year, he found symptoms similar to those of the Sars pathogen in patients. Li feared the pathogen would return.
According to the official results, a total of 349 people died in mainland China in 2002 and 2003 from the Sars virus. There were 8,000 infected and 774 dead worldwide.
In a warning message to colleagues and students on December 30, Li shared his findings and fears about the growing number of mysterious virus cases.
Police warned Li about rumors that they were spreading
Together with seven colleagues who had also reported the existence of the new virus, the police then summoned and warned him of the “spreading of rumors”. They had to sign that they no longer reveal anything about the outbreak.
Li was praised by Chinese Internet users. A user who described himself as an orthopedic surgeon wrote on the Weibo network that he was “a hero” who paid for his work against the virus with his life.
More dead than Sars
The number of deaths from the novel virus is now significantly higher in mainland China than during the Sars epidemic. According to new figures released by the Chinese government on Friday, 636 people in mainland China have died as a result of the infection.
According to the government, the number of illnesses registered by the pathogen nationwide has increased by a further 3,143 cases since Thursday to a total of 31,161. Most infections still occur in Hubei.
From China, the corona virus has spread to more than two dozen other countries. There are now 13 confirmed cases of infection in Germany. (AFP / dpa / HAU)
The entire family of four, an employee of the auto parts supplier Webasto, fell ill. The World Health Organization worries that the peak of the spread of the coronavirus is still imminent.
–
Teaser image: © imago images / Ritzau Scanpix / ZUMA Press / Ropix / Li
– ,
