A temporary hospital set up for Covid-19 coronavirus patients in a sports stadium in Wuhan, China (Picture: AFP)

A 36-year-old man has died from coronavirus five days after being given the all-clear.

Li Liang was discharged from hospital in Wuhan, China, on February 26 after being deemed free from the deadly disease.

On 2nd March, just five days into his 14-day mandatory isolation period at a hotel, Mr Li was taken back to hospital with shortness of breath and declared dead shortly after.

His wife Ms Mei said his death certificate lists Covid-19 and ‘respiratory blockage and failure’ as the ‘direct cause’ of Mr Li’s death.


Mr Li’s death certificate issued by the Wuhan Health Commission shows he died of Covid-19 related respiratory failure (Picture: AsiaWire)

The incident has raised concerns over so-called ‘repeat infections’, but Chinese health experts agree that such a phenomenon is not likely.



Analysis by Chinese epidemiologist and pulmonologist Zhong Nanshan, who discovered the SARS coronavirus in 2003, suggests the most likely factor leading to repeat diagnoses was the current method of testing, which can lead to false negatives.

On February 12th, Mr Li initially went to the temporary hospital set up at the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Centre, in China’s central province of Hubei, with non-critical symptoms.

He spent 14 days in hospital and passed two reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction – or RT-PCR – tests, which is currently the most common method to test for infection.

After he was discharged, he went for a mandatory two-week isolation period at Vienna International Hotel.

A temporary hospital set up for coronavirus patients in Wuhan (Picture: AFP)

By the second day, Mr Li told his wife via a video call that he was experiencing symptoms such as a dry mouth and bloated stomach.

On the morning of his death, he felt faint and weak, Ms Mei noted.

According to Vienna International Hotel, Mr Li was among more than 10 patients who arrived from the temporary facility for 14-day isolation.

No others have experienced a repeat of coronavirus symptoms so far.

Mr Li is the first person to die after being given the all-clear but a number of people have begun to suffer from so-called ‘repeat infections.’

Covid-19 has now has killed more than 3,300 people and infected nearly 100,000 in about 85 nations.