Coronavirus: Wuhan doctor says officials muzzled her for sharing report on WeChat
- Hospital emergency department head Ai Fen tells magazine she posted information on Sars-like virus in December and sounded alarm
- Her interview, suggesting an opportunity for authorities to issue early warning had been missed, was later deleted
Ai Fen, director of the emergency department at Wuhan Central Hospital, told Chinese magazine People that she posted an image of a diagnostic report on social network WeChat on December 30, showing that the patient had a pneumonia infection caused by a Sars-like coronavirus.
Ai’s interview suggests local health authorities in Wuhan, the centre of the epidemic, missed an opportunity to issue a warning about an imminent outbreak before the virus spread and infected more than 117,000 people globally and caused over 4,200 deaths.
It was published on Tuesday but later deleted from the magazine’s WeChat account, prompting angry internet users to repost the article on other platforms. The magazine is published by the state-run People’s Publishing House.
It also coincided with President Xi Jinping’s first visit to Wuhan since the crisis began, during which he praised residents for their hard work and sacrifices.
In the interview, Ai said she initially shared the diagnostic report with a messaging group on WeChat and its members then circulated the photograph.