Li Wenliang, The 34-year-old Chinese doctor who warned about the coronavirus outbreak in December 2019 died as a result of the infection in February.
His death sparked an unprecedented anger and grief on Chinese social media with comments demanding an apology from the authorities to Dr. Li and his family.
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Hailed as a national hero in China, Dr Li was detained for several days by Wuhan police for “spreading rumours” about the coronavirus outbreak after he sought to warn colleagues about the emergence of Covid-19.
Li, an ophthalmologist, had posted to a group chat with other medical practitioners about some patients showing signs of a new Sars-like illness in early December, several weeks before Chinese authorities admitted to the outbreak of the coronavirus.
He was picked up by the police and forced to sign a document admitting that he had “seriously disrupted social order” and breached the law.
Many Chinese citizens hailed his decision to speak out over the virus despite the risks of doing so in an authoritarian country.
China have recorded over 35000 cases of the virus with more than 1000 deaths so far.
