Doctor who reported first novel #Coronavirus case, succumbs to It
Read: weather.com/en-IN/india/ne…
📸: Xinhua/Xiong Qi/IANS
Read: weather.com/en-IN/india/ne…
📸: Xinhua/Xiong Qi/IANS
The 34-year-old doctor diagnosed #Coronavirus in patients who were admitted to Wuhan Central Hospital in Hubei province after consuming local seafood in December 2019.
The tests conducted by Dr. Wenliang confirmed that the coronavirus strain was unique, and not the same one behind SARS. Thus, the novel #Coronavirus was identified for the first time.
Dr. Wenliang first broke the news about the #Coronavirus to his Medical School Alumni group on the social messaging app, the screenshots went viral online, and the Wuhan Police accused Dr. Wenliang of spreading rumours.
Seven other healthcare workers were also targeted by police for blowing the whistle on the contagious virus.
On January 10, Dr Wenliang started to develop cough and fever. He was hospitalised on January 12 and transferred to the Intensive Care Unit soon after his condition became worse. After several tests, Dr Wenliang was diagnosed positive for the #Coronavirus on February 1.
In a post on Weibo dating January 31, Dr. Wenliang wrote about the delay in the government’s intervention on the spread of the virus.
The problem was finally addressed by China’s federal government on January 10, when President Xi Jinping admitted to the outbreak. Only then did the public get to know about the new strain.
The late response of the government on handling the outbreak led to public outrage and Chinese authorities were criticised for not informing the people on time.
Meanwhile, on Chinese social media sites, Dr. Wenliang and the seven others who initiated the news about the virus are now being regarded as public heroes.
