On December 30, 2019, Dr Li Wenliang, a Chinese ophthalmologist who worked at the Wuhan Central Hospital, sent a message to a group of doctors on WeChat, warning them about a deadly disease that could wreak havoc in Wuhan, China, through rapid human-to-human transmission. Dr Li raised the alarm after observing seven patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) like symptoms at the hospital.
After he learnt that patients were being quarantined, he warned that the disease could spread exponentially, infecting hundreds of thousands of people. “We need to be ready for it mentally. Take protective measures,” he said, speaking with The New York Times.
Dr Li’s observations were spot-on. But within days, the Public Security Bureau in Wuhan “reprimanded” him for “spreading rumours,” and made him sign a statement which accused him of making “false statements and disturbing the public order.” Dr Li, however, chose to ignore the legal ban and decided to speak out about the disease.
His early warnings on the dangers posed by the Coronavirus had stirred China’s tightly controlled internet. Many Chinese citizens, including several senior officials, seemed to agree with him.
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