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Dr Li Wenliang died on 7 February in Wuhan city after he fell victim to the novel coronavirus (Credit: AP)
China's ambassador to the UK paid tribute to the doctor who was one of the first to raise the alarm over the novel coronavirus before it became an epidemic, infecting thousands of people in the country and spreading overseas.
Li Wenliang died on 7 February in Wuhan city after he fell victim to the virus.
The Chinese Ambassador in London Liu Xiaoming, in an interview to the BBC, hailed the 34-year-old as a "hero" and said that "he would be remembered for his contribution" to the fight against the disease.
Liu was asked about Li being told by authorities to stop his warnings about what is now known as the novel coronavirus.
The ambassador said the National Supervisory Commission had sent a special team to Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and the epicenter of the outbreak, to investigate the sequence of events following the ophthalmologist's warning about a new mysterious virus.
In a tweet, Liu also expressed his admiration for the millions of Chinese medical professionals "who are making huge sacrifices to save lives at the forefront of the battle against coronavirus".
As of Sunday, the novel coronavirus has killed 811 people and infected more than 37,000 in the mainland, according to China's National Health Commission.
Numerous cases have been reported from other parts of the world, prompting foreign governments to issue travel advisories. Some airlines have cancelled flights to China.
While the race is on to find a vaccine, the World Health Organisaton has declared a global health emergency and urged the international community to cooperate with each other.
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