Feb 18 ,2020. 2 hours ago – 15:12 | – KYODO NEWS

BEIJING – The head of a major hospital in the central China city of Wuhan died Tuesday of the new pneumonia-causing coronavirus, state television reported, as the country’s death toll from the outbreak reached 1,868.

The death of Liu Zhiming, director of Wuhan Wuchang Hospital, underscores the risks faced by health workers at the front line of the battle against the outbreak in the worst-hit city and elsewhere in China.

The doctor died at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday of infection with the virus, China Central Television said. He is believed to have contracted the virus while treating infected patients.

Liu’s death was first reported on Twitter on Monday night by People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party, but the tweet was immediately deleted, mirroring the confusion surrounding another doctor’s death in Wuhan earlier this month.

Li Wenliang, who was an early whistleblower about the Wuhan outbreak, died on Feb. 7 from the illness he warned about. His death was first reported Feb. 6, but his hospital insisted life-saving efforts were being made, only to acknowledge his death hours later.

The National Health Commission said Friday that as of Feb. 11, 1,716 health workers, including doctors, had been infected in China, and six of them had died as a result.

CR: KYODO NEWS