Dr. Li Wenliang was one of 8 doctors visited by police after early warnings on virus





Ophthalmologist Dr. Li Wenliang become somewhat of a folk hero in China as one of the 8 doctors who was disciplined by police after warning fellow doctors to wear protective clothing because of a new SARS virus.





He was then visited by policy and the Public Security Bureau where he was told to sign a letter where he was accused of "making false comments" that had "severely disturbed the social order".







On the weekend, he revealed he had contracted the virus himself after testing negative a number of times.







"Today nucleic acid testing came back with a positive result, the dust has settled, finally diagnosed," he said in a video that was widely watched.









State media is now reporting that the 34-year-old died today. He had a wife and five-year-old daughter. There are reports that his wife is sick as well.





What a tragedy.







The hospital where he worked has issued a statement:

"Our hospital's ophthalmologist Li Wenliang was unfortunately infected with coronavirus during his work in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic. He died at 2:58 am on Feb 7 after attempts to resuscitate were unsuccessful."





Social media in China was inundated with topics such as:

"Wuhan government owes Dr. Li Wenliang an apology"

"We want freedom of speech"

Grief-stricken users posted tens of thousands of comments before each topic was removed by authorities.