Without Li Wenliang sounding the alarm about the mysterious virus now known as Sars-CoV-2 which causes the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in late December 2019, the world probably would have known about the virus at a much later date.
The Chinese ophthalmologist from Liaoning province had informed his fellow doctors online about the viral infection before it spread to other areas in his native country and around the globe in 2020.
Health authorities in Wuhan, a city in Hubei province, issued emergency warnings on Dec. 30, 2019, to local hospitals about cases of a mysterious respiratory disease in the previous week in the city. At that time, Li was working at the Central Hospital of Wuhan, and on the same day he received an internal diagnostic report of a suspected severe acute respiratory patient from his fellow doctors.
Li also shared on Dec. 30 the information to his fellow doctors, and the warning about a mysterious virus later spread in public after a screenshot of his message was leaked online.
The following day, Chinese authorities belatedly made a public announcement about the detection of 27 cases of a viral pneumonia that is now known as Covid-19. The patients had a history of exposure at a seafood market in Wuhan.
Law enforcers in Wuhan eventually caught up with the leaked information from Li and summoned him on Jan. 3, 2020. Li was admonished for allegedly making false comments about the unconfirmed virus outbreak.
Li eventually got infected with the virus, and he succumbed to Covid-19 a month later. He passed away at a young age of 33.
In between Li’s warning and his death, the Chinese government was slow to react to contain the outbreak in Wuhan.
The Chinese city was placed on lockdown only on Jan. 23, 2020, two days before the Lunar New Year. But the lockdown occurred a day after a mass gathering of Wuhan top government officials, actors, dancers and musicians, during which some individuals had the sniffles and sneezes, and days after millions of people traveled outside the city to either return to their home provinces or go on vacation outside the country.
The Chinese government’s efforts in containing the outbreak were slower than snail. The health officials even downplayed in their public pronouncements the virus’ ability to transfer from one human to another.
Li’s second death anniversary last Monday, Feb. 7, was commemorated around the globe, with messages of gratitude for his courage to blow the whistle on the infectious new virus despite his native country’s ultra-strict Internet censorship.
The world needs more Li Wenliangs who have the guts to tell the truth, even in places where speaking it has dire consequences.