The Chinese doctor who got in trouble with authorities in the communist country for sounding an early warning about the coronavirus outbreak died on Friday after coming down with the illness.
The Wuhan Central Hospital said on its social media account that Dr Li Wenliang, a 34-year-old ophthalmologist, was "unfortunately infected during the fight against the pneumonia epidemic of the new coronavirus infection."
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"We deeply regret and mourn this," it added.
Li was reprimanded by local police for "spreading rumours" about the illness in late December, according to news reports.
The outbreak, centred in Wuhan, has now infected over 31,161 people in China and killed at least 636 people, triggering travel restrictions and quarantines around the world and a crisis inside the country of 1.4 billion.
The World Health Organization tweeted: "We are deeply saddened by the passing of Dr Li Wenliang. We all need to celebrate work that he did" on the virus.
This sketch of li wenliang one of the many things about him that are blowing up online. His death is crystallizing so much anger and frustration
506 people are talking about this
Within a half-hour of announcing earlier Friday that Li was in critical condition, the hospital received nearly 500,000 comments on its social media post, many of them from people hoping Li would pull through.
One wrote: "We are not going to bed. We are here waiting for a miracle."
Li was among a number of medical professionals in Wuhan who tried to warn colleagues and others when the government did not The New York Times newspaper reported earlier this week.
It said that after the mystery illness had stricken seven patients at a hospital, Li said of them in an online chat group December 30: "Quarantined in the emergency department."
Wuhan health officials summoned Li in the middle of the night to explain why he shared the information and police later forced him to sign a statement admitting to "illegal behaviour," the Times said.
"If the officials had disclosed information about the epidemic earlier," Li said in an interview in the Times via text messages: "I think it would have been a lot better. There should be more openness and transparency."
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Dr Vin Gupta of the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, described Li's death as "tragic", adding that the public health community is equally saddened about his mistreatment.
Despite some "missteps", Gupta said that China's overall response to the outbreak is "remarkable."
In other developments in the outbreak, a newborn in China became the youngest-known person infected with the virus.
The baby was born on Saturday in Wuhan and confirmed positive just 36 hours after birth, authorities said. But precisely how the child became infected was unclear.
"The baby was immediately separated from the mother after the birth and has been under artificial feeding. There was no close contact with the parents, yet it was diagnosed with the disease," Zeng Lingkong, director of neonatal diseases at Wuhan Children’s Hospital told Chinese TV.
Zeng said other infected mothers have given birth to babies who tested negative, so it is not yet known if the virus can be transmitted in the womb.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
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