China has named one of the coronavirus whistle-blowers a ‘martyr’, according to state media, after his informant has allegedly gone missing.
Li Wenliang, a 34-year-old doctor from Wuhan, lost his life to killer infection COVID-19 in February after contracting it from a patient.
He was reprimanded by police for warning the public of a ‘SARS-like’ disease weeks before Wuhan was put under lockdown.
Dr Li Wenliang, 34, who died of the coronavirus last month after being punished for sounding the alarm over the outbreak has been given the honourable title of ‘an advanced individual’
Dr Ai Fen – who went public over the spread coronavirus in Wuhan – has disappeared sparking concerns that she has been detained, reports suggest. Dr Ai is feared to have been detained
The news comes as Dr Li’s colleague Ai Fen, who had informed him about the virus, has reportedly disappeared, sparking concerns that she has been detained for speaking out.
People who claim to know Dr Ai have alleged on Chinese social media that she was living and working as usual while slamming the report from an Australia channel as fake.
Authorities have not responded to the report.
Late Dr Li has been officially ranked as a ‘martyr’ by local officials who lauded his bravery, dedication and quick reaction.
His name is among a total of 14 medical workers in the province of Hubei who received the title after they contracted the contagion at work and then died of it, reported state broadcaster CCTV through its social media account.
Citing officials from Hubei, A CCTV post said: ‘They disregarded their personal safety, stuck to the front line, raced against the clock fighting the demon illness and safeguard people’s life safety and health day and night.
‘Salute! Farewell to heroes!’
Dr Li was reprimanded by police for sharing the information and made to sign a statement (left) agreeing not to commit any more ‘law-breaking actions’. His death caused an uproar in China
A woman wearing a face mask walks past a poster of late Li Wenliang, a Chinese doctor who died of coronavirus at a hospital in Wuhan, in Prague, Czech Republic, on March 27
The late honourees include 51-year-old Liu Zhiming, the former head of Wuhan’s Wuchang Hospital who succumbed to the infection on February 18 after being infected at work.
Two of Dr Li’s colleagues, 56-year-old Jiang Xueqing and 57-year-old Mei Zhongming, were also on the list.
More than 3,000 medical workers have contracted the coronavirus while treating patients, and at least 26 of them have died, according to figures released by Chinese media.
Dr Jiang Xueqing (left) and Dr Mei Zhongming (right), who also worked for Wuhan Central Hospital, have lost their lives to the deadly disease. Dr Jiang, 56, specialised in treating diseases in the mammary gland and thyroid gland while Dr Mei, 57, worked with Dr Li Wenliang
Dr Li, ophthalmologist, was pronounced dead in the early hours of February 7 after testing positive on January 31.
The news of his passing was initially reported by state media Global Times before being quickly retracted. His workplace, the Wuhan Central Hospital, then claimed that doctors were still trying to save him.
His death and the conflicting reports about it sparked an uproar on Chinese social media, with the public accusing the authority of trying to cover up the truth and controlling freedom of speech.
More than 3,000 medical workers have contracted the coronavirus while treating patients, and at least 26 of them have died, according to figures released by Chinese media. The picture shows hazmat-clad medical workers transferring a patient at a hospital in Wuhan on February 6
‘He wasn’t allowed to speak. He wasn’t even allowed to die,’ wrote one person on popular messaging app WeChat as she commented on a circulating notice which apparently instructed all media outlets to suppress the coverage of the passing of Dr Li Wenliang.
‘Dr Li Wenliang was only allowed to “die” after most web users had gone to bed,’ condemned another person on Twitter-like Weibo, claiming that Dr Li’s hospital was quick to deny relevant reports and declared the medic’s death in the wee hours today.
The deceased medic blew the whistle on the coronavirus outbreak in late December, around three weeks before the authority locked down Wuhan to stop the spread of the contagion.
This photo taken on April 1 shows medical workers disinfecting a stretcher in Wuhan Central Hospital in Wuhan. Li Wenliang was a doctor at the hospital before dying of COVID-19
He was reprimanded by police for sharing the information and made to sign a statement agreeing not to commit any more ‘law-breaking actions’.
A Chinese government investigation found last month that the police had acted ‘inappropriately’ in dealing with the case.
The police has since apologised to the public and pardoned Dr Li.
Life in Wuhan, the former centre of the coronavirus pandemic, is slowly returning to normal. The picture shows a man wearing a face mask riding a scooter outside Wuhan University today
It has been recently revealed that Dr Li sounded the alarm of a potential outbreak after receiving a test message from his colleague Dr Ai, who has been billed as ‘the one who gave out the whistles to the whistle-blowers’.
Dr Ai, who works in the ER, criticised the management of Wuhan Central Hospital for dismissing the early warnings of the coronavirus in an interview published last month by a Chinese magazine – before it was quickly censored.
She admitted ‘feeling regretful about not speaking out more’ after four of her colleagues, including Dr Li, had contracted the virus and died while fighting the outbreak.
She also said that she faced ‘unprecedented, extremely harsh reprimanded’ by officials at Wuhan Central Hospital after sending the text.
She has not been seen since her interview with Renwu Magazine on March 10, 60 Minutes Australia reported.
On March 29 after Dr Ai was reported to have gone missing, a post on her account on Twitter-like Weibo shared a picture with the caption: ‘A river. A bridge. A road. A clock chime’
After the show’s investigation aired, a post on the doctor’s Weibo account – a social media platform similar to Twitter – shared a picture with the caption: ‘A river. A bridge. A road. A clock chime’.
The post was tagged under a phrase ‘you are the sweetest and the most bitter’, indicating her love and hate relationship with her hometown.
Some comments under the mysterious post, however, suggested that Dr Ai was living and working as normal.
One reply read: ‘Dr Ai is okay and living normally. I am from Wuhan and know her family.’
Her rumoured disappearance comes after criticism was levvied at the Chinese government for lying and covering up key information during virtually every stage of its coronavirus response – accusations Beijing has denied and condemned.