The director of a hospital in Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in China, is fighting for his life from the deadly illness, according to a report — which came after state-run media initially said that he’d died.

Dr. Liu Zhiming, head of Wuchang Hospital, fell critically ill with the coronavirus that broke out in Wuhan in December, the Daily Mail reported, citing a local health official.

The People’s Daily initially reported that he had died, but later deleted the news from its English-language Twitter feed.

The backtrack followed the conflicting reports surrounding the death of Chinese whistleblower Dr. Li Wenliang earlier this month.

State media reported he had died, then Wuhan Central Hospital said Li was still on life support — only to eventually confirm that he had passed away.

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The virus, known as COVID-19, has killed at least 1,770 people in China and spread to more than 70,000 others.