He is the sixth doctor at Wuhan Central Hospital to die from the virus (representational)
Beijing:
A Wuhan doctor who worked with coronavirus whistleblower Li Wenliang died of the virus last week, media reports said Tuesday, becoming the first death of COVID-19 in China in weeks.
Hu Weifeng, a urologist at Wuhan Central Hospital, died on Friday after being treated for COVID-19 and related problems for more than four months, the public television station CCTV said.
He is the sixth doctor in Wuhan Central Hospital to die from the virus, which appeared in central China at the end of last year.
Cases have dropped significantly since the peak in mid-February, as the country appears to have largely contained the epidemic.
The official death toll in the country of 1.4 billion people stands at 4,634 – well below the number of deaths in less populated countries.
Wuhan Central Hospital has yet to make an official statement about Hu’s death. In early February, he said that about 68 staff members had contracted a coronavirus.
Hu’s condition became a national concern after Chinese media showed pictures of him with his skin turning black due to liver damage.
His colleague Yi Fan showed similar symptoms, but recovered and has since left the hospital.
The death of their colleague Li Wenliang in February sparked a national wave of grief and rage against the government as he documented his last days on social media.
The 34-year-old ophthalmologist was reprimanded by the authorities after warning his colleagues of the virus in late December.
Beijing has since named him a national martyr, but has removed much of the dissent and criticism over his death.
Other medical whistleblowers at Wuhan Central Hospital – including the director of the emergency unit Ai Fen – told Chinese media that they had been punished by the authorities for reporting.
China has not released a full number of deaths for Covid-19 medical workers, but at least 34 doctors have received posthumous honors from health officials.
In February, the National Health Commission said that 3,387 health workers had been infected.
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
