Thousands of Chinese social media users paid tribute to Li Wenliang, marking the one year anniversary of the death of the doctor who first blew the whistle on the coronavirus outbreak, according to AFP.

Li, one of a group of doctors in Wuhan who shared posts on social media warning of a SARS-like virus spreading in the central city in December 2019, was reprimanded by police for spreading “rumours”.

His death in February last year after catching the virus from a patient prompted a national outpouring of grief, as well as anger at the government's handling of the crisis and bold demands for political reforms.

Li's personal page on the Twitter-like Weibo platform remains a rare space for users to commemorate the trauma of the early outbreak. Commenters marked the anniversary of his death with thousands of messages, ranging from candle emoticons to updates on their own lives addressed to the late doctor.