Doctor who helped sound alarm on coronavirus dies

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One of the first Chinese doctors who tried to warn the world about the spread of coronavirus died on Friday (February 7) from the illness, which has sparked a wave of mourning and rare showing of anger from some in that country against its government.

Thirty-four year old Li Wenliang was an ophthalmologist at a hospital in Wuhan, the Chinese city hardest hit by the illness.

He and seven others were reprimanded by Wuhan police last month for spreading what the authorities called "illegal and false" information about the coronavirus.

He was warning on social media at the time of a new disease similar to SARS hitting the area, a reference to the Chinese outbreak that killed hundreds in the early 2000s.

News of his passing saw tributes laid along Wuhan's still deserted streets and in neighboring Hong Kong a candlelit vigil was being held for Doctor Li, and for all those affected, as the public started to direct its anger towards the Chinese government for not listening to him sooner.

This man in Beijing told us "We need to see if the influence of his death can wake up anything. And I hope he did not die in vain."

Another, said, "He was criticized and unfairly treated because of his report, so we feel very sad and regretful."

On Friday, China's Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, reported 69 new deaths, taking the death toll in China to over 600. It also reported nearly 2,500 new cases for a total of over 30,000 cases, according to state TV.

But the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday (February 6) said it was too early to claim the outbreak was peaking.

Dr. Michael Ryan:

(SOUNDBITE) (English) WHO EMERGENCIES PROGRAM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DR MICHAEL RYAN, SAYING:

"There has been that constant increase in cases in Hubei province but we haven't seen that same acceleration in provinces outside Hubei.

Outside of China, Singapore has raise its alert level to orange, the same level it reached during the SARS outbreak in 2003.

That comes after three cases of this new coronavirus were reported that, crucially, could not been linked to previous infections or any travel to China.