Lin Zhengbin, a leading physician in kidney transplantation in China, died yesterday in Wuhan after less than a month of corona virus infection.

"We have been best friends for many years. His health is good and he has no illness. Therefore, no one expected his condition to deteriorate so quickly and become so serious," said Song Jianxin, Lin Zhengbin's colleague at Tongji Hospital, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, said Monday.

Lin, 62, is a renowned doctor with 30 years of experience in kidney transplants, described by colleagues and friends as gentle and quiet. He died less than a month after the discovery of a new strain of corona virus (nCoV).

Song, the chief of infectious diseases at Tongji Hospital, said Lin texted him for help after being transferred to the intensive care unit, but by then the 62-year-old doctor was too weak and had to breathe oxygen.

According to an unnamed doctor, Lin could be infected with nCoV during a medical examination at a crowded outpatient department. "The testing center is located on the same floor as the pediatric ward, which is extremely crowded. Many people come and go, while the isolation measures have not been applied yet," he said.

The Chinese government does not say how many health workers have acute pneumonia, but many are believed to be infected with nCoV. According to an article by a team of doctors in Wuhan published in the journal of the American Medical Association on February 7, 40 doctors and hospitals were infected with nCoV from patients in January.

Optometrist Ly Van Luong, one of the first to warn about nCoV, also passed away on February 6 because of nCoV. The death of the 34-year-old doctor angered the public and claimed that the government owed him an apology.

The epidemic of acute pneumonia caused by nCoV originated in Wuhan City and has now spread to 26 countries and territories around the world, causing more than 43,000 people to be infected and 1,018 to be killed. The Wuhan government has continued to tighten the blockade, demanding closer monitoring of buildings with virus infections.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director of the World Health Organization (WHO) today announced the official name for the nCoV pneumonia epidemic, Covid-19, and said the first vaccine to treat Covid-19 could be given. in use for about 18 months.