Li Wenliang
Chinese ophthalmologist (1986–2020) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Li Wenliang (Chinese: 李文亮; 12 October 1986 – 7 February 2020) was a Chinese Manchurian ophthalmologist who warned his colleagues about early COVID-19 infections in Wuhan.[2] On 30 December 2019, Wuhan CDC issued emergency warnings to local hospitals about a number of mysterious "pneumonia" cases discovered in the city in the previous week.[3] On the same day, Li, who worked at the Central Hospital of Wuhan, received an internal diagnostic report of a suspected severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) patient from other doctors which he in turn shared with his Wuhan University alumni through a WeChat group. He was dubbed a whistleblower when that shared report later circulated publicly despite his requesting confidentiality from those with whom he shared the information.[4][5] Rumors of a deadly SARS outbreak subsequently spread on Chinese social media platforms; Wuhan police summoned and admonished him and seven other doctors on 3 January for "making false comments on the Internet about unconfirmed SARS outbreak."[4][6]
Li Wenliang | |
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李文亮 | |
Born | (1986-10-12)12 October 1986 |
Died | 7 February 2020(2020-02-07) (aged 33) Wuhan, Hubei, China |
Cause of death | COVID-19 |
Alma mater | Wuhan University (MMed) |
Occupation | Ophthalmologist |
Years active | 2011–2020 |
Known for | Warning people about COVID-19 before it became a pandemic |
Spouse | Fu Xuejie[1](付雪洁) |
Children | 2 |
Li Wenliang | |||||||||||||
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Chinese | 李文亮 | ||||||||||||
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The outbreak was later confirmed not to be SARS, but rather a new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. Li returned to work and later contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, from a patient who was not known to be infected. He died from the disease on 7 February 2020, at age 33.[7][8] A subsequent Chinese official inquiry exonerated him; Wuhan police formally apologized to his family and revoked his admonishment on 19 March.[9][10][11][12] In April 2020, Li was posthumously awarded the May Fourth Medal by the government.[13] By early June 2020, five more doctors from the Wuhan hospital had died from COVID-19.[14]