Dr. Li Wenliang, who died at the age of 34, became one of the crisis's most visible figures in the early days of the outbreak when he tried to sound the alarm in the central city of Wuhan.

Dr. Susy Hota, an expert on infectious disease prevention who teaches at the University of Toronto medical school, said policies are in place to protect those working in the health-care sector from illness.

The late Li Wenliang was one of seven coronavirus whistleblowers taken into custody by Wuhan police.

A Chinese doctor who was among the first to sound the alarm on a new coronavirus in Wuhan has died, according to state media reports.