A whistleblowing Chinese physician who had been reprimanded for”spreading rumours” about the coronavirus until it had been formally recognised expired on Thursday after testing positive for the virus, the hospital at which he functioned stated.

Li Wenliang, an ophthalmologist in a hospital in Wuhan, town in the epicentre of the epidemic, was among eight individuals reprimanded by Wuhan authorities last month for dispersing”false and illegal” information regarding the coronavirus.

The Wuhan hospital at which Li worked in a statement on its own Weibo accounts he died at two.

Li, that had been 34, had advised a group of physicians on Chinese social networking and messaging stage WeChat that seven cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was verified connected to a fish market in Wuhan, considered to be the origin of the virus.

He published an image of a test result confirming a”SARS-like” coronavirus in a patient sample, as demonstrated by a screenshot of those WeChat discussions seen and confirmed by Reuters.

Li stated on China’s microblogging website Weibo about February 1 that he’d tested positive for the coronavirus.

Reuters was not able to reach Li’s household for remark.

A letter to Li issued from the Wuhan police agency on January 3 stated he’d”severely disrupted social order” together with his WeChat messages.

He had been requested to sign the letter for a guarantee to prevent such illegal behavior immediately, and when he refused to honor he’d face criminal charges.

China has reported greater than 600 deaths and 30,000 instances of this coronavirus. China has vowed to become open and transparent in managing the coronavirus.