Coronavirus kills Chinese whistleblower doctor

Li Wenliang was diagnosed with the coronavirus on January 30.

A Chinese doctor who tried to issue the first warning about the deadly coronavirus outbreak has died, the hospital treating him has said.

Report informs, citing the BBC, that Li Wenliang contracted the virus while working at Wuhan Central Hospital.

He sent out a warning to fellow medics on December 30, but police told him to stop "making false comments."

There had been contradictory reports about his death, but the People's Daily now says he died at 02:58 on Friday (18:58 GMT Thursday).

On December 30, Li sent a message to fellow doctors in a chat group, warning them to wear protective clothing to avoid infection.

Four days later, he was summoned to the Public Security Bureau, where he was told to sign a letter. In the letter, he was accused of "making false comments" that had "severely disturbed the social order."

In his Weibo post, he describes how on January 10 he started coughing, the next day, Li had a fever, and two days later, he was in the hospital. Then he was diagnosed with the coronavirus.