Li Wenliang,
Li Wenliang

Thousands have paid their tributes to Li Wenliang, the doctor who was the first to draw attention to the Covid-19 outbreak in China.

Social media was flooded with tributes being paid to the young Chinese doctor on his first death anniversary on Sunday.

Li Wenliang had died a year ago after contacting the novel coronavirus while treating patients in China’s Wuhan, the epicenter of the disease.

Wuhan is the capital of China’s Hubei province.

When Wenliang had tried to warn fellow doctors about a disease that looked like the deadly SARS, the Chinese police accused him of spreading rumours and making false comments, a report stated.

Also read: WHO experts visit Wuhan market in China, where first COVID-19 infections detected

A large scale public anger coupled with grief was noticed after the ophthalmologist’s death

The Chinese government has been accused of downplaying the severity of the virus, which led to the virus spreading across the globe and infecting and killing millions of people in the process.

However, the Chinese government had to eventually acquit the false charges on Wenliang and honour him as a hero under tremendous public pressure.