Coronavirus China: Dr Li Wenliang treated ‘inappropriately’ before death from COVID-19, Chinese officials admit

China has admitted mistakes in the case of a whistleblowing doctor who first noticed coronavirus, but the apology is “too little, too late” for some.

Police in China’s virus epicentre Wuhan acted “inappropriately” by punishing a doctor who blew the whistle on the outbreak that has now killed more than 9,000 worldwide, a Chinese government investigation found Thursday.

Li Wenliang, one of a group of doctors in Wuhan who shared posts on social media warning of a SARS-like virus spreading in the city in December, was reprimanded by police for sharing the information and made to sign a statement agreeing not to commit any more “law-breaking actions.”

Li’s death from the virus in February prompted a national outpouring of grief as well as anger at the government’s handling of the crisis, and bold demands for freedom of speech.

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Dr Li Wenliang’s death prompted an outpouring of sympathy, Picture: Mark RALSTON / AFP.

A man attends a memorial for the hero doctor in California. Picture: Mark RALSTON / AFP.

The police issued an apology after the result of the investigation was published, drawing a new round of criticism on Twitter-like Weibo, with people saying it was too little, too late.

A central government investigation initiated after Li’s death found that Wuhan police “acted inappropriately by issuing a disciplinary letter” and took “irregular law enforcement procedures,” state broadcaster CCTV reported Thursday.

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The investigators also found that Li’s colleagues had repeatedly attempted to resuscitate the 34-year-old before he was declared dead because he was “very young,” CCTV said.

State media said Li’s colleagues told investigators, “as long as there was a bit of hope we were unwilling to give up, at the time there were no other factors.”

The central government investigators “suggest” that Wuhan authorities “supervise and rectify the matter,” and urged local police to revoke the disciplinary statement issued to Li, according to CCTV.

Dr Le Wenliang’s death from coronavirus was confirmed on February 7. Picture: Li WENLIANG / Social Media

Wuhan police later issued a statement saying that the disciplinary statement had been “wrong” and they were revoking it, and that they “apologise to his family for the mistake”.

The deputy director of the Zhongnan Road police station was given a “demerit” on his record and the officer on duty was handed an “administrative warning”, it added.

The state-run Global Times said “facing up to mistakes and correcting them in a timely manner is key for a country and society to make continuous progress.”

“Li’s experience was painful for the Chinese public. It reflected Wuhan’s poor response to the epidemic at the early stage and the public’s attitude toward it. Our society needs to continuously explore the causes of the crisis and learn lessons from it, which requires the Chinese people’s collective reflection that covers much more than the work of the investigation team,” it noted in an editorial.

‘THIS APOLOGY IS TOO LATE’

It is rare for Chinese authorities to admit such wrongdoing, but Beijing has sought to direct criticism over the mishandling of the virus outbreak onto provincial officials, with several of the region’s top Communist Party and health officials sacked.

Tens of thousands commented on the police’s Weibo post, with some saying it was not good enough.

“Go and apologise in front of the person’s grave,” said one user. Another wrote: “This apology has come too late, Wenliang can’t hear it.”

Li Wenliang has become a hero for many in China and around the world. Picture: STR / AFP

Li’s death had initially been reported by state media before their reports were quickly deleted. Wuhan Central Hospital only confirmed Li’s death hours later, after saying he was undergoing emergency treatment.

Social media users who immediately took to Weibo in droves to mourn Li — before posts related to his death were scrubbed by censors — had accused hospital authorities of inappropriately attempting to resuscitate Li after he had already died.

China reported zero domestic COVID-19 infections for the first time on Thursday, even as nations across the world have shut down in a desperate effort to contain the pandemic.

China’s central government has sought to distance itself from the origins of the disease, initially by sacking local officials blamed for allowing the virus to spread, and recently by supporting the conspiracy theory that COVID-19 originated in the US.