A Chinese doctor, one of the first to raise the alarm about the spread of the new coronavirus, died Friday from the pathogen, which killed more than 560 people.
A global panic is spreading, thousands of people are quarantined on cruise ships.
Ophthalmologist Li Wenliang died at 2:58 am. This is stated in a message from the Wuhan Central Hospital published on the account of the Chinese social network Weibo.
The 34-year-old doctor sent a message about the new coronavirus to colleagues on December 30, but was later among eight defendants summoned by police in a 'spreading rumor' case.
He later contracted the disease while treating a patient and was hailed as a hero by Chinese internet users.
Li was among more than 28,000 people infected in China, where authorities are trying to contain the outbreak, despite ordering millions indoors in an increasing number of cities.
Two dozen countries have confirmed cases of respiratory illness that emerged from the exotic animal market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.
Thousands of cruise ship vacationers in Hong Kong and Japan are waiting in agony to see if any of them are infected.
About 3,700 passengers and crew members from more than 50 countries have been quarantined.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said another cruise ship, Westerdam, was heading to the country with one confirmed case.
According to him, foreigners from a vessel capable of carrying about 3,000 passengers and crew will not be allowed to go ashore.
In Hong Kong, 3,600 people spent their second night aboard World Dream. Authorities carried out checks after eight former passengers tested positive for the virus.
While the death toll in China is rising along with the deaths of Li and other patients, experts emphasize that at two percent deaths, 2019- nCoV is far less deadly than SARS, which killed about 10 percent of the people it infected 17 years. back.
However, the outbreak has been declared a global health emergency, prompting several countries to ban entry from China while airlines have suspended flights and evacuated their citizens.
Sources: Agence France-Presse, photo: EyePress News / EyePress / AFP
