Lin Min

linmin67@hotmail.com

NEVER had so many people mourned the death of an ordinary doctor before Li Wenliang, a physician in Wuhan who died early Friday morning after contracting the novel coronavirus while on duty, triggering an outpouring of grief across the country and other parts of the world.

The deep sorrow apparently felt from social media and furious calls for accountability over the silencing of his early warning of the outbreak even triggered an immediate investigation over “issues involving Dr. Li” by the National Supervisory Commission.

Dr. Li was one of the eight medical workers who sounded the alarm over the outbreak in December but were labeled by local police as “rumormongers.”

He was regarded an “ordinary hero” not only for warning others of a looming outbreak but also for continuing to treat patients and disregarding his own safety even after he was punished for “spreading rumors.”

Dr. Li’s sacrifice would be in vain if his death did not lead to a rethink on China’s epidemic response system, which clearly failed to curb the outbreak at its early stage.

For a country as populous as China, it is understandable for authorities to prioritize stability and take a tough stance against any rumor that may trigger social unrest. However, such a response has proven terribly problematic in dealing with health issues. Police lack expertise in epidemiology and hence have no authority in determining whether what doctors say are “rumors,” truth or something close to truth.

The doctors’ warnings might have triggered an alarm that would have led to the public taking preventive measures as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the police’s handling of the whistleblowers and the media reports of the police action sent a wrong message to the public that they were safe and therefore no preventive measures were warranted.

Many countries depend on doctors working on the frontlines to discover early cases of contagious diseases. These doctors collectively function as an early warning system. Therefore, warnings like those given by the eight doctors should be encouraged rather than suppressed. If doctors’ warnings contain mistakes or omissions, or are even wrong, authorities can issue timely, accurate public statements to prevent unnecessary panic.

The responsibility of handling information related to infectious diseases as well as refuting rumors about an outbreak should rest not on police but on the CDC, which should operate its epidemic identification and warning system independently from the interference of local officials who know little about epidemiology.

The investigation by the National Supervisory Commission is expected to present to the public a full account of events surrounding the official handling of the warnings by Li and other doctors and hold those responsible accountable.

The general public has placed high hopes on the investigation because it could be pivotal in looking into what went wrong in the initial stages of dealing with the outbreak.

The probe will also be helpful for an expected broader investigation into how the important early opportunities to contain the virus were wasted and how the country’s epidemic response system should be fixed to prevent a recurrence of the tragedy.

Dr. Li was optimistic and devoted. He used a playful emoji when announcing on his Weibo account that he had been confirmed to have contracted the deadly virus and promised to return to work to fight the epidemic after he recovered.

For the time being, as we mourned his death, we should garner strength from his optimism, caring for others and devotion to work, and give full support to medical workers racing against time to save patients and others fighting to contain the epidemic.

(The author is a deputy editor-in-chief of Shenzhen Daily.)