From Real-Name Exposure to Death... The Ordeals of Chinese 'Consciences' Who Exposed the 'Wuhan Corona'

Dr. iFun who shared the early situation of the Wuhan COVID-19 outbreak with colleagues
[Chinese magazine figure. Resale and DB prohibited] [Image source = Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] Ai Fen (艾芬), the courageous doctor who revealed the existence of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) that began spreading in Wuhan, China in 2019 alongside the late Li Wenliang (李文亮), has reportedly suffered the misfortune of losing sight in one eye following a ban on her speaking out.

Recently, Ai Fen, head of the emergency room at Wuhan Central Hospital, posted a video on her Weibo account appealing that she lost vision in one eye due to a medical accident at an ophthalmology hospital in Wuhan.

Due to the loss of sight in one eye, Head Ai is currently unable to work at the hospital.

In the video posted on Weibo, she lamented, "I have always been an optimistic and positive person who overcomes difficulties, but after losing my vision, I find it so hard that I need someone to support me even when walking."

In December 2019, during the early spread of COVID-19, Head Ai heard news that patients with symptoms similar to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) were occurring consecutively at her hospital and posted this information in a WeChat group chat involving hospital doctors.

Doctor Li Wenliang Who Alerted the World to the Novel Coronavirus (Shanghai=Yonhap News) Correspondent Cha Dae-woon = Doctor Li Wenliang (李文亮, 34), from Wuhan Central Hospital in China, who was the first to alert the world about the existence of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus. [Image source = Li Wenliang Weibo][Image source = Yonhap News]

Li Wenliang then shared this information in a group chat with his medical school classmates, and subsequently, the fact that a SARS-like disease was spreading in Wuhan rapidly spread across China via the internet.

Li Wenliang was regarded by the public as a 'righteous whistleblower' for this, but was taken by the public security bureau and forced to sign a reprimand for "spreading rumors and disturbing social order."

To make matters worse, during the early spread of COVID-19, he cared for patients without any protective equipment such as masks, became infected, and after a four-week battle with the illness, ultimately died. Nine days before his death, he said in an interview with an online economic media outlet, "A healthy society should not have only one voice."

In China, Li Wenliang and Head Ai are respectively called 'the person who blew the whistle' (whistleblower) and 'the person who handed out the whistle.' However, following their deaths, blindness, and other successive misfortunes, they have evoked deep sympathy.

On the 2nd, Taiwan's Central News Agency, citing a report from Radio Free Asia, reported that Head Ai has been instructed by a senior official of the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission to "not make any public statements."

Radio Free Asia also revealed that Li Wenliang's family members are still being restricted from making public statements.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.