The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Thursday says the novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection has killed a Chinese physician, Dr Li Wenliang, expressing sadness over the doctor’s death.
Dr Li Wenliang was the first to issue the warnings about the deadly coronavirus outbreak. He contracted the virus while working at Wuhan Central Hospital.
The doctor had sent out a warning to fellow medics on 30 December but police told him to stop “making false comments”. They soon realised that he was right when the disease started gaining momentum.
WHO, in a tweet posted on its official Twitter page on Thursday, said, “We are deeply saddened by the passing of Dr Li Wenliang. We all need to celebrate work that he did on #2019nCoV.”
Wenliang, on Feb. 6, died of the novel coronavirus infection at an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) room.
WHO had disclosed that as of 6.00 a.m Geneva time on Feb. 6, there were 28,060 confirmed 2019-nCoV cases in China and 564 deaths. It also said that outside China, there were 225 cases in 24 countries, with one death.
Wenliang, born on Oct. 12, 1986 in Beizhen, Liaoning, China, studied Clinical Medicine at Wuhan University for seven years where he acquired his M.Med. Degree.
After graduation, he worked in Xiamen, Fujian, China for three years before he returned to Wuhan and worked as an Ophthalmologist at Wuhan Central Hospital.
