On Feb. 7, the Wuhan hospital announced that Li Wenliang, the Chinese doctor who tried to alert the public of the new coronavirus, has died from the novel coronavirus.
Li's death was initially declared at around 9:30pm on Feb. 6 after his heart stopped beating.
Reports of his death triggered a wave of reactions from Chinese netizens.
However, Wuhan hospital later challenged the reports by saying that an emergency rescue was underway, resulting in Chinese netizens commenting that they would stay up to wait for a "miracle" to happen.
In the early morning of Feb. 7, Chinese state media reported that despite "all-effort rescue", Li succumbed to the illness at 2:58am.
The 34-year-old left behind his wife as well as a five-year-old son.
Outpouring of tributes
Following the news, netizens across the world have mourned his death.
Several hashtags were trending on Chinese social media platform Weibo, hailing him as a hero. Others demanded an apology from the Wuhan government.
Many netizens also expressed their appreciation for his courage and sacrifice by dedicating drawings or social media posts to him.
Top photo collage via Weibo