Li Wenliang, a doctor, and one of the first eight people who warned China about the novel coronavirus, died of the infection late night on February 6. The incident has stirred collective anger and resentment against the Chinese government, reported Aljazeera. 

Wenliang was considered a national hero for warning the government about the coronavirus outbreak in its early stage. However, he was arrested by Wuhan police for spreading “rumours” earlier in January.

He had warned his fellow medics in a private WeChat message about a SARS-like virus spreading in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak. He got infected after trying to treat a glaucoma patient who was infected with the virus and was unaware of it.

Wuhan hospital, where he had been admitted for three weeks, confirmed his death, the Aljazeera report added. 

He posted his story from his hospital bed last month on social media site Weibo. “Hello everyone, this is Li Wenliang, an ophthalmologist at Wuhan Central Hospital,” read the post.

Public outrage

Wenliang was declared dead around 9.30 pm local time on Thursday. However, the news broke out six hours after he died. Doctors at Wuhan were reluctant to declare him dead and tried resuscitating him in every possible way. 

People expressed their rage on WeChat and Weibo, China’s two-biggest social media platforms. People started talking about Dr Wenliang’s death under the hashtag, “We Want Freedom of Speech”, which attracted millions of searches and posts. Later, the Chinese government censored the hashtag. This further enraged the citizens of China.

According to the Aljazeera report, one of the Weibo users wrote that he is not afraid of losing his account just because the government is trying to muzzle their voices while another user wrote that nurturing fear is their intention and people should not submit themselves.

After witnessing growing public outrage over the doctor’s death, China’s anti-corruption agency, the National Supervisory Commission, declared that a team will be sent to Hubei to conduct a “comprehensive investigation”, reported  The Guardian .

Meanwhile, the death toll has risen to 638, with 31,000 infected worldwide by the deadly virus, as per the CBS report.

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