pov of news of today: 1) Shannen Doherty talented actress from "91210" TV series, which I loved viewing those early days at US schools - May God bless her.
2) Sen. Rand Paul read aloud the name of the alleged whistleblower ! Is it agaist the law to protect the whistleblower? 事不关己显人恶 sinful selfish
3) 21st-century election requires 19th-century technology. So, I stick with low tech.
4) "六百箱口罩快递途中被政府“征用” 警察：出门打断腿" 武汉协和医院的20万口罩究竟是谁捐的？ ? zf should not have squeezed the kindness and trust of the public; neither should zf not provide free PPE for all - even zf could throw out >$60 billion in some countries. Never abuse the public -grassroots kindness and tolerance - if too much to break the threshold boundary - never get it back. May God bless all with freedom and democracy 事不关己显人恶
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Chinese doctor who was silenced now has coronavirus
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On December 30, Li Wenliang dropped a bombshell in his medical school alumni group on the popular Chinese messaging app WeChat: seven patients from a local seafood market had been diagnosed with a SARS-like illness and quarantined in his hospital.
Li explained that, according to a test he had seen, the illness was a coronavirus -- a large family of viruses that includes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
Memories of SARS run deep in China, where a pandemic in 2003 killed hundreds following a government cover up. "I only wanted to remind my university classmates to be careful," he said.
Li, a 34-year-old doctor working in Wuhan, the central Chinese city at the epicenter of the deadly coronavirus outbreak, told his friends to warn their loved ones privately. But within hours screenshots of his messages had gone viral -- without his name being blurred. "When I saw them circulating online, I realized that it was out of my control and I would probably be punished," Li said.
He was right.
Soon after he posted the message, Li was accused of rumor-mongering by the Wuhan police. He was one of several medics targeted by police for trying to blow the whistle on the deadly virus in the early weeks of the outbreak. The virus has since claimed at least 425 lives and sickened more than 20,000 people globally -- including Li.
From an intensive care bed in hospital, Li told CNN he was confirmed Saturday to have contracted the virus.
His diagnosis has sparked outrage across China, where a backlash is growing against state censorship around the illness and an initial delay in warning the public about the deadly virus.
Summoned by the police
On the same day in December that Li messaged his friends, an emergency notice was issued by the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission, informing the city's medical institutions that a series of patients from the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market had an "unknown pneumonia."
The notice came with a warning: "Any organizations or individuals are not allowed to release treatment information to the public without authorization."
In the early hours of December 31, Wuhan's health authorities held an emergency meeting to discuss the outbreak. Afterwards, Li was summoned by officials at his hospital to explain how he knew about the cases, according to state-run newspaper Beijing Youth Daily.
Later that day, the Wuhan authorities announced the outbreak and alerted the World Health Organization. But Li's troubles did not end there.
On January 3, Li was called to a local police station and reprimanded for "spreading rumors online" and "severely disrupting social order" over the message he sent in the chat group.
In that message, Li said the patients had been diagnosed with SARS, citing the test result that showed the pathogen tested positive for the SARS virus with a high "confidence coefficient" -- a measure indicating the accuracy of the test. He clarified in a subsequent message that the virus was actually a different type of coronavirus, but the screenshot of his first message had already spread online.
Li had to sign a statement -- which CNN has seen a photograph of -- acknowledging his "misdemeanor" and promising not to commit further "unlawful acts."
He feared he was going to be detained. "My family would worry sick about me, if I lose my freedom for a few days," he told CNN over a text message on WeChat -- he was coughing too much and breathing too poorly to speak over the phone.
Luckily, Li was allowed to leave the police station after an hour.
The Wuhan police has not responded to CNN's request for comment at the time of publishing. The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission declined to comment.
a person wearing a mask: Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang in an intensive care bed on oxygen support after contracting the coronavirus.
a group of people standing around a bag of luggage: Medical staff wearing protective clothing with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan.
a man wearing a suit and tie: Li Wenliang, a doctor in Wuhan, was punished by police for "spreading rumors" over a message warning people against the coronavirus.
a bedroom with a bed and a chair in a room: Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang, who contracted the coronavirus from a patient he treated, in an intensive care ward.
a group of people wearing costumes: Chinese police officers wearing masks stand in front of the Tiananmen Gate on January 26 in Beijing.
a person wearing a mask: Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang in an intensive care bed on oxygen support after contracting the coronavirus.
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1/5 SLIDES ? Li Wenliang
Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang in an intensive care bed on oxygen support after contracting the coronavirus.
The ophthalmologist returned to work at Wuhan Central Hospital feeling helpless. He said: "There was nothing I could do. (Everything) has to adhere to the official line."
On January 10, after unwittingly treating a patient with the Wuhan coronavirus, Li started coughing and developed a fever the next day. He was hospitalized on January 12. In the following days, Li's condition deteriorated so badly that he was admitted to the intensive care unit, and given oxygen support.
On February 1, he tested positive for coronavirus.
Playing down the outbreak
From the start, the Chinese authorities wanted to control information about the outbreak, silencing any voices that differed with their narrative -- regardless of whether they were telling the truth.
On January 1, the Wuhan police announced it had "taken legal measures" against eight people who had recently "published and shared rumors online" about the pneumonia-like illness and "caused adverse impacts on society."
"The internet is not a land beyond the law ... Any unlawful acts of fabricating, spreading rumors and disturbing the social order will be punished by police according to the law, with zero tolerance," said a police statement on Weibo, China's Twitter-like platform.
The police announcement was broadcast across the country on CCTV, China's state broadcaster, making it clear how the Chinese government would treat such "rumormongers."
In the two weeks that followed, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission remained the only source for updates on the developments of the outbreak. Chinese scientists identified the pathogen as a new coronavirus on January 7. For about a week, no new confirmed cases were announced. Health authorities maintained there was "no obvious evidence for human to human transmission," no infection of healthcare workers, and that the outbreak was "preventable and controllable."
On January 31, Li wrote in a post on Weibo how he felt during that period: "I was wondering why (the government's) official notices were still saying there was no human-to-human transmission, and there were no healthcare workers infected."
Then came a sudden jump in infections. Until January 17, the Wuhan authorities had only reported 41 cases of the virus. By January 20, that number had soared to 198.
The central government took over and, on January 20, President Xi Jinping ordered "resolute efforts to curb the spread" of the coronavirus and stressed the need for the timely release of information -- it was the first time Xi had publicly addressed the outbreak.
Later that evening, Zhong Nanshan, a government-appointed respiratory expert, known for fighting SARS 17 years ago, declared on state broadcaster CCTV that the new coronavirus was transmissible from person to person.
Slide 1 of 50: Stewardesses take temperatures of passengers as a preventive measure for the coronavirus on an Air China flight from Melbourne to Beijing before it land at Beijing Capital International Airport in China, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. China said Tuesday the number of infections from a new virus surpassed 20,000 as medical workers and patients arrived at a new hospital and President Xi Jinping said "we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic."
Slide 2 of 50: A TV crew film a cruise ship Diamond Princess anchoring off the Yokohama Port Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020, in Yokohama, near Tokyo. Japanese health officials are conducting extensive medical checks on all 3,700 passengers and crew of the cruise ship that returned to the country after one passenger tested positive for the new coronavirus.
Slide 3 of 50: Medical workers hold a strike outside the Hospital Authority as they demand for Hong Kong to close its border with China to reduce the coronavirus spreading, in Hong Kong, China February 4, 2020.
Slide 4 of 50: A medical worker wearing protective gear (C) waits to take the temperature of people in an entrance of Princess Margaret Hospital in Hong Kong on February 4, 2020. - Hong Kong on February 4 become the second place outside of the Chinese mainland to report the death of a patient being treated for a new coronavirus that has so far claimed more than 400 lives.
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Slide 5 of 50: This handout photo taken and released by Malaysia's Ministry of Health shows Malaysian nationals being directed onto a bus by health officials in protective suits as they arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020, after being evacuated from China's Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Slide 6 of 50: A dog wears a paper cup over its mouth on a street in Beijing on February 4, 2020. - The number of total infections in China's coronavirus outbreak has passed 20,400 nationwide with 3,235 new cases confirmed, the National Health Commission said on February 4.
Slide 7 of 50: Workers set up beds at an exhibition centre that was converted into a hospital in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on February 4, 2020. - The Wuhan government said it plans to convert three existing venues, including a gymnasium and an exhibition centre, into hospitals to take in patients with mild symptoms of the new coronavirus that has so far claimed more than 400 lives.
Slide 8 of 50: South Korean young men wear masks to protect against the new coronavirus as they take part in a conscription examination for the national service in Seoul, South Korea, February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Heo Ran
Slide 9 of 50: HANOI, VIETNAM - FEBRUARY 03: People wear face mask while waiting to buy gold from a gold shop on the day of the God of Wealth on February 3, 2020 in Hanoi, Vietnam. Vietnam confirms its 8th case of coronavirus today. The new patient, a Vietnamese blue-collar worker recently returned to Vietnam after having attended a vocational training program in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. As per Vietnamese tradition and custom, the tenth day of the Lunar New Year, which is today (February 3), is the day when the God of Wealth returns to heaven, creating the belief that buying gold then will bring good luck and prosperity throughout the year.
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Slide 10 of 50: Pedestrians wear face masks as they cross a road in Hong Kong on February 3, 2020, as a preventative measure following a virus outbreak which began in the Chinese city of Wuhan. - Hundreds of Hong Kong medical workers walked off their jobs on February 3, demanding the city close its border with China to reduce the coronavirus spreading -- with frontline staff threatening to follow suit in the coming days. (Photo by Anthony WALLACE / AFP) (Photo by
Slide 11 of 50: SUINING, CHINA - FEBRUARY 03 2020: Medical staff pose for photos with a woman patient who has been cured of 2019-nCoV and her husband who has stayed healthy in the 14-day quarantine in a hospital in Suining in southwest China's Sichuan province Monday, Feb. 03, 2020.- PHOTOGRAPH BY Feature China / Barcroft Media (Photo credit should read
Slide 12 of 50: Travellers wearing facemasks arrive from various provinces at the Beijing Railway Station on February 3, 2020. - China said February 3 it urgently needed medical equipment and surgical masks as the death toll from a new coronavirus jumped above 360, making it more deadly than the SARS crisis nearly two decades ago. (Photo by NOEL CELIS / AFP) (Photo by
Slide 13 of 50: MOSCOW, RUSSIA - FEBRUARY 3, 2020: An employee of the Russian Emergency Siatuations Ministry in a medical mask waiting for a Beijing-Moscow train arriving at Yaroslavsky Railway Station. An outbreak of pneumonia-like disease caused by a coronavirus was registered in Wuhan, a port city of 11 mln people, the administrative center of the Hubei province, in the end of December 2019. As of February 3, 2020, over 17 thousand people are infected, the death toll is over 300.
Slide 14 of 50: People wearing protective facemasks visit the Durbar Square in Kathmandu on February 3, 2020. - China said on February 3 it urgently needed medical equipment and surgical masks as the death toll from a new coronavirus jumped above 360, making it more deadly than the SARS crisis nearly two decades ago. The World Health Organization has declared the crisis a global health emergency, and the first foreign death from the virus was confirmed in the Philippines on February 2. (Photo by Jewel SAMAD / AFP) (Photo by
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Slide 15 of 50: MANILA, PHILIPPINES - FEBRUARY 03: Signs indicating that face masks are sold out are seen at a medical supply shop, as public fear over China's Wuhan Coronavirus grows, on February 3, 2020 in Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government has been heavily criticized after failing to immediately implement travel restrictions on China, the source of a deadly coronavirus that has now killed more than 300 people and infected thousands more. On Sunday, the first coronavirus death outside of China was reported in the Philippines. (Photo by
Slide 16 of 50: HONG KONG, CHINA, FEBRUARY 3, 2020: People wearing masks seen in the Mass Transit Railway (MTR). Hong Kong epidemic situation hit economic hard. The Financial Secretary Paul Chan said that Hong Kong may record a budget deficit this financial year.- PHOTOGRAPH BY May James / Echoes WIre/ Barcroft Media (Photo credit should read
Slide 17 of 50: Military personnel go through disinfecting procedures prior to handle Italian citizens repatriated from the coronavirus hot-zone of Wuhan, at the Mario De Bernardi military airport in Pratica di Mare, south of Rome, on February 3, 2020 prior to be placed in quarantine at the nearby Cecchignola center. (Photo by ANSA / AFP) (Photo by
Slide 18 of 50: MANILA, PHILIPPINES - FEBRUARY 03: Chinese nationals, whose flight was cancelled after the Philippine government imposed travel restrictions to and from China amid the outbreak of the Wuhan Coronavirus, wait outside the closed ticketing office of China Eastern Airlines at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on February 3, 2020 in Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government has been heavily criticized after failing to immediately implement travel restrictions on China, the source of a deadly coronavirus that has now killed more than 300 people and infected thousands more. On Sunday, the first coronavirus death outside of China was reported in the Philippines. (Photo by
Slide 19 of 50: BERLIN, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 03: A passenger wears a face mask at Airport Tegel on February 03, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. As more cases of coronavirus are being confirmed across the globe fears are rising that the virus is reaching the category of a pandemic. Germany so far has ten confirmed cases of the infection. (Photo by
Slide 20 of 50: In this photo released by the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, Indonesians who arrived from Wuhan, China, are sprayed with antiseptic at Hang Nadim Airport in Batam, Indonesia Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020. Indonesians evacuated from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the center of a deadly virus outbreak, were transported to a quarantine zone on a remote island at the edge of the South China Sea, shortly after landing on Batam, an island near Singapore on Sunday morning. (Indonesian Foreign Ministry via AP)
Slide 21 of 50: People wearing protective masks to prevent the spread of the SARS-like virus put a facemask on a snowman at the Jingshan park after a snowfall in Beijing on February 2, 2020. - A virus similar to the SARS pathogen has killed more than 300 people in China and spread around the world since emerging in a market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. (Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP) (Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images)
Slide 22 of 50: Staff members wearing protective masks check a passenger at Shanghai railway station in Shanghai, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, February 2, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song
Slide 23 of 50: Indonesian migrant workers wearing masks practice an instrument called "gendang" at Victoria Park in Hong Kong, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020. Indonesia flew back more than 200 nationals from Wuhan on Sunday and quarantined them on remote Natuna Islands for two weeks. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
Slide 24 of 50: Indian nationals sitting in a bus are transported out of Indira Gandhi International Airport following their evacuation from the Chinese city of Wuhan, in New Delhi, India, February 2, 2020. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis
Slide 25 of 50: Portuguese nationals who were in the coronavirus-stricken Chinese city of Wuhan are pictured at Figo Maduro military airbase in Lisbon, Portugal February 2, 2020. Mario Cruz/Pool via REUTERS
Slide 26 of 50: This aerial photo taken on February 2, 2020 shows the Huoshenshan hospital, which means "Fire God Mountain", after handed over to China's army in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province. - China's army on February 2 was given control of a nearly-finished field hospital that will treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus epidemic that has severely strained medical facilities. (Photo by STR / AFP) / China OUT (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)
Slide 27 of 50: LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 02: Young travelers arrive to LAX Tom Bradley International Terminal wearing medical masks for protection against the coronavirus outbreak on February 2, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. The United States has declared a public health emergency and will implement strict travel restrictions later today. Foreign nationals who have been in China in the last two weeks and are not immediate family members of U.S. citizens or permanent residents will be barred from entering the U.S. Meanwhile, about 195 U.S. citizens who were evacuated from China to March Air Reserve in California are under under quarantine at the base, prohibited from leaving until it is determined that they will not develop symptoms of the disease. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
Slide 28 of 50: A woman wears a mask as a preventive measure against the coronavirus outbreak, in Bangkok, Thailand February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun
Slide 29 of 50: A woman wears a mask to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus as she walks in Chinatown at Bangkok, Thailand February 2, 2020.
Slide 30 of 50: An employee (L) puts a protective face mask on a child at a railway station in Hanoi on February 2, 2020. - The death toll from China's coronavirus epidemic soared to 304 on Feburary 2, as an increasing number of countries imposed extraordinary Chinese travel bans to combat the spread of the disease.
Slide 31 of 50: Medical staff wearing protective suits check Myanmar students who were evacuated on a chartered flight from the Chinese city of Wuhan, at a hospital in Mandalay on February 2, 2020. - The death toll from China's coronavirus epidemic soared to 304 on Feburary 2, as an increasing number of countries imposed extraordinary Chinese travel bans to combat the spread of the disease.
Slide 32 of 50: Mexican students wear protective masks upon their arrival at the Del Bajio International Airport, after the Guanajuato state government arranged the return from China for Mexican students due to the coronavirus outbreak, in Silao, Mexico February 1, 2020.
Slide 33 of 50: A German Air Force plane, carrying evacuated citizens, returns from China's coronavirus-struck Wuhan to Frankfurt, Germany, February 1, 2020.
Slide 34 of 50: Police tape blocks access to a staircase in a hospital in San Sebastian, where the first case of coronavirus in the country has been confirmed, in La Gomera, Spain February 1, 2020.
Slide 35 of 50: A person holds a child as passengers grab their luggages as they disembark a Turkish cargo plane at the Etimesgut military Airport in Ankara on February 1, 2020, after being repatriated from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the new coronavirus outbreak.
Slide 36 of 50: An Iraqi Health Ministry employee checks passengers' temperature, amid the new coronavirus outbreak, upon their arrival at Basra airport, in Basra, Iraq February 1, 2020. REUTERS/Essam al-Sudani
Slide 37 of 50: A woman wears a protective mask in light of the coronavirus outbreak in China as she walks at the Trocadero esplanade in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, February 1, 2020. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
Slide 38 of 50: Students and family members of Pakistani students living in the Chinese city of Wuhan, protest demanding their return home, in Islamabad on February 1, 2020. - Chinafaced deepening isolation over its coronavirus epidemic on February 1 as the death toll soared to 259, with the United States and Australia leading a growing list of nations to impose extraordinary Chinese travel bans. (Photo by Farooq NAEEM / AFP) (Photo by FAROOQ NAEEM/AFP via Getty Images)
Slide 39 of 50: ANKARA, TURKEY - FEBRUARY 1: A footage captured from a video shows two passengers holding Turkish flag in Turkish cargo plane carrying 42 passengers from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the deadly coronavirus outbreak, after landing at Etimesgut Military Airport in Ankara, Turkey on February 1, 2020. (Photo by AA Video/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Slide 40 of 50: GUANGZHOU, CHINA - FEBRUARY 1: People are seen out of the shop to buy mask on February 1,2020 in Guangzhou, China. At present, people infected with the new coronavirus are spread all over China. Citizens wear masks to protect against the virus. Currently, masks on the market are in short supply. Many citizens wait in line early. Due to the large number of people, businesses have adopted a policy of purchasing 2 per person. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Slide 41 of 50: NEW DELHI, INDIA FEBRUARY 1: Crew members and officials of an Indian airline carry their belongings while wearing protective masks as a precaution against a possible coronavirus infection on their return from China, at Indira Gandhi International Airport, on February 1, 2020 in New Delhi, India. The passengers, mostly students, who were evacuated from Wuhan, will be kept in isolation for 14 days at the ITBP centre in Chhawla in the national capital. Chinese authorities did not allow six Indians on board after they reported high temperatures during screening. A screening camp has been set up at the Delhi Airport where they will be screened before they are put under quarantine.(Photo by Amal KS/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Slide 42 of 50: Workmen use a jet wash to clean the outside of a block at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside, where British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China are being quarantined. (Photo by Danny Lawson/PA Images via Getty Images)
Slide 43 of 50: Family members of one of the Sri Lankan students evacuated from Wuhan province in China and brought to Sri Lanka hold candles during a vigil to pray for people who are suffering from the coronavirus in the world, in Colombo, Sri Lanka February 1, 2020. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte
Slide 44 of 50: A total of 316 Bangladeshi citizens were brought back from China's Wuhan, the epicenter of the new coronavirus outbreak, on 1st February 2020 and seven of them were sent to Kurmitola General Hospital. Biman Bangladesh Airlines managing director Mokabbir Hossain said 316 Bangladeshis, including three infants, arrived in Dhaka from Wuhan in the morning. (Photo by Sony Ramany/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Slide 45 of 50: Mandatory Credit: Photo by ANGELO CARCONI/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock (10544575n) Tourists wear protective masks in front of the Coliseum in Rome, Italy, 31 January 2020. According to the Italian health authorities, first two cases of the coronavirus infection has been registered in the country. The coronavirus, called 2019-nCoV, originating from Wuhan, China, has spread to all the 31 provinces of China as well as more than a dozen countries in the world. The outbreak of coronavirus has so far claimed 213 lives and infected more than 8,000 others, according to media reports. Cases of Coronavirus in Italy, Rome - 31 Jan 2020
Slide 46 of 50: MANILA, PHILIPPINES - JANUARY 31: Filipinos hoping to buy face masks crowd outside a medical supply shop that was raided by police for allegedly hoarding and overpricing the masks, as public fear over China's Wuhan Coronavirus grows, on January 31, 2020 in Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government has been heavily criticized after failing to immediately implement travel restrictions from China, the source of a deadly coronavirus that has now killed hundreds and infected thousands more. The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declared the coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)
Slide 47 of 50: BRIZE NORTON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 31: Coaches transport eighty-three Britons and 27 foreign nationals who have been evacuated from Wuhan following a Coronavirus outbreak, from RAF Brize Norton to Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside, where they will be quarantined, on January 31, 2020 in Brize Norton, England. Two people in the same family have been diagnosed with the Coronavirus in the UK, which has killed at least 213 people in China. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
Slide 48 of 50: SINGAPORE - JANUARY 31: People undergo temperature checks at the entrance during the 'Colours in Harmony', Chingay Parade at the F1 Pit Building on January 31, 2020 in Singapore. Singapore has confirmed 16 cases of the deadly coronavirus as of January 31, which emerged last month in the city of Wuhan in China. (Photo by Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images)
Slide 49 of 50: Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a residential compound, as the country is hit by the outbreak of a new coronavirus, in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, China January 30, 2020. Picture taken January 30, 2020. China Daily via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. CHINA OUT. - RC2VQE9QTC2P
Slide 50 of 50: Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, front, and other government officials wear protective face masks before a press conference in Hong Kong, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. China has moved to lock down at least three big cities in an unprecedented effort to contain the deadly new virus that has sickened hundreds of people and spread to other parts of the world. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
Slide 1 of 50: Stewardesses take temperatures of passengers as a preventive measure for the coronavirus on an Air China flight from Melbourne to Beijing before it land at Beijing Capital International Airport in China, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. China said Tuesday the number of infections from a new virus surpassed 20,000 as medical workers and patients arrived at a new hospital and President Xi Jinping said "we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic."
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China has confirmed human-to-human transmission of a new SARS-like coronavirus linked to the Wuhan pneumonia outbreak. With the number of cases soaring and spreading to countries beyond China, the World Health Organization has declared an international public health emergency.
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Three days later, authorities placed an unprecedented lockdown on Wuhan, the economic engine and transportation hub of China's central heartland -- but five million people had already left the city for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Now, the virus has spread to every region in the country, including the far western frontier of Xinjiang and the remote region of Tibet.
In an interview with CCTV on January 27, Wuhan mayor Zhou Xianwang admitted his government did not disclose information on the coronavirus "in a timely fashion."
He explained that under Chinese law on infectious diseases, the local government first needs to report the outbreak to national health authorities, and then get approval from the State Council before making an announcement.
"For the late disclosure, I hope everyone can understand that this is an infectious disease, and relevant information has special channels to be disclosed in accordance with law," he said.
Public uproar
By late January, the Wuhan government's mishandling of the outbreak was becoming well-understood in China. Many online thought of the group of eight "rumormongers," saying their early warnings could have saved hundreds of lives.
Calls for the eight to be vindicated grew -- even in state media. Xi's call for the timely release of information was seen as a green light to report on the coronavirus and Chinese journalists began producing in-depth coverage and hard-hitting investigative reports. The state-run newspaper Beijing Youth Daily interviewed Li and the article went viral. The piece was censored within hours, but the uproar remained.
As public anger mounted, China's Supreme Court on January 28 criticized the Wuhan police for punishing the "rumormongers."
"It might have been a fortunate thing for containing the new coronavirus, if the public had listened to this 'rumor' at the time, and adopted measures such as wearing masks, strict disinfection and avoiding going to the wildlife market," the Supreme Court commentary said.
Bowing to pressure, the Wuhan police issued a statement the next day, saying the eight people had only committed "particularly minor" misdemeanors for spreading "unverified information." It said they had only been summoned for a talk and not detained or fined.
On Saturday, another "rumormonger" came forward with her story in the Chinese press.
Xie Linka, an oncologist at Wuhan Union Hospital, told Chinese media she received a warning from police after sending an alert to her colleagues in a WeChat group on the evening of December 30.
In the message, Xie relayed a warning from fellow doctors about an infectious disease: "Don't go to Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in the near future. Several people were found to have contracted an unknown pneumonia similar to SARS there. Today our hospital has received multiple patients from the market. Everyone please remember to wear masks and ventilate properly."
Now recovering in a quarantine ward, Li said he was not sure if he was one of the eight "rumormongers." But he felt relieved after reading the Supreme Court commentary, taking it as a sign that the central government is against giving him a harsh punishment.
On Li's Weibo, tens of thousands have left comments thanking him for speaking out and wishing him a speedy discovery.
"Dr Li, you're a good doctor with conscience. I hope you stay safe and sound," read one of the top-rated comments.
Others have questioned what could have been if Li's warning had been heeded.
"If Wuhan had paid attention to [his warning] back then and taken active preventive measures," wrote another Weibo user, "where we stand now a month later could be a completely different picture."
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