Liu Wen has no regrets about alerting his colleagues more than a month ago to a disease outbreak at a seafood market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, despite being hauled into a police station over the matter. Liu, a doctor at Wuhan Hannan Red Cross Hospital, sent the warning through a WeChat group on December 30, he told Chinese news service Caixin. He said he sent the warning because the hospital was close to the seafood market. The next day, hospital management called him in and asked him where he got the information. And two days after that, he was questioned by police, according to the report. His treatment is similar to that meted out to Li Wenliang, a Wuhan doctor who also cautioned medical school classmates about an outbreak of an unknown illness linked to the market. Li, too, was summoned by police and told not to talk about the outbreak. Li died on Friday morning after contracting the coronavirus that has killed more than 700 people, most of them in Hubei province. Police said previously that eight people had been reprimanded for “rumour mongering” in the early days of the outbreak. Liu said he did not know if he was one of the eight but – unlike Li – he was not asked to sign any reprimand letter. Nevertheless, being questioned took its toll. “I think being called to a police station did affect my work. I felt pressure at work,” he was quoted as saying, adding that he had no regrets. “I only did what a doctor should do. No one thought the situation would escalate so fast. “Even though I am not a specialist, the situation does not look good. “The coronavirus looks to be very dangerous.” Across the city at another hospital, doctor Wei Peng said he was angered by the way Li was treated. “The people who created this tragedy should face legal responsibility ... Without an explanation, doctors will always be concerned,” Wei said. “We are all worried that sooner or later we will be infected because we don’t know the transmission route of the coronavirus, and not many of us have full protective equipment.” He said resources were stretched to the limit, and he had used the same face mask for three days. “There is no improvement in the resources,” Wei said. He said most of the patients he saw now had pneumonia symptoms, with lung scans indicating a coronavirus infection. But many could not be admitted because hospitals were already overwhelmed. Wei said his clinic had enough protective equipment for just five more days, and conditions were worse for smaller cities around Wuhan. “The number of infections will continue to rise. The doctors are working desperately, but all the other problems facing the community, the hygiene condition outside and other issues have not been solved,” he said. At a Wuhan medical emergency centre, ambulance dispatcher Wang Bo said he and his colleagues were heartbroken by Li’s death. Wang also said Wuhan had about 90 ambulances and they could not keep up with the number of cases. “I am just exhausted. There were about 200 more patients discharged from hospitals yesterday, but the vacant beds were filled almost in one minute. Now there’s no beds.” Purchase the China AI Report 2020 brought to you by SCMP Research and enjoy a 20% discount (original price US$400). This 60-page all new intelligence report gives you first-hand insights and analysis into the latest industry developments and intelligence about China AI. Get exclusive access to our webinars for continuous learning, and interact with China AI executives in live Q&A. Offer valid until 31 March 2020.