Coronavirus: Colleague Of Whistle-blowing Doctor Dies Amid Wuhan’s Fight Against COVID-19

The Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital announced on Tuesday that another doctor, Mei Zhongming, succumbed to the novel coronavirus that also killed his colleague, Dr. Li Wenliang, who is known for being the COVID-19’s whistleblower in China.

According to the Daily Mail, the Wuhan Central Hospital said “all-out rescue efforts” were carried out on Mei but he passed away at noon on Tuesday. Mei worked in the same department where Li used to work in before his passing.

Li is recognized by the masses as a modern hero after he outed information about a mysterious virus that started spreading in Wuhan late December. He was reportedly ordered by authorities at that time to stop telling people about the new virus strain which was later officially named COVID-19.

A statement on the hospital’s official Weibo account said Mei was “serious and responsible for his work.” The hospital added that he was a doctor who was patient and careful in treating patients.

It is unclear when Mei was diagnosed with the COVID-19 strain, but his death came roughly two weeks after Dr. Liu Zhiming, the head of Wuhan Wuchang Hospital, also passed away after contracting the disease.

Over the weekend, another medic, Dr. Xueqing, passed away after battling the novel coronavirus. He worked at the Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital. As of Tuesday, a total of 26 health providers in China have died from the fast-spreading disease.

China’s battle with the COVID-19 virus continues amid medic and health professional deaths as Shanghai and Beijing announced that people who have recent travel histories to coronavirus-hit countries will be required to undergo a 14-day quarantine.

For Beijing, in particular, people traveling from South Korea, Iran, Italy and Japan will be required to undergo the two-week quarantine that the government initiated, the New York Times reported.

The new travel regulations came after it was reported that at least 13 people who returned to China from Italy and Iran have tested positive of the coronavirus.

The restrictions came despite China reporting its lowest total new COVID-19 infections since January on Tuesday. The number of new cases stood at 125, an apparent decline from previous infection tolls.

As things start to slow down in China, other countries are reeling from new cases and deaths from the novel virus. According to CNBC, Iran’s Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raisi announced through the state television that the country now has 2,336 confirmed coronavirus cases and 77 deaths.

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has urged the masses to adhere to government and health recommendations to prevent the disease from spreading further.