Wu Zunyou (U Dzunju) was the chief expert at China’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, known as the China CDC, who regularly spoke publicly to justify Beijing’s draconian lockdowns, mass testing and long quarantines.
These measures initially stopped the spread of COVID-19, but the rapid spread of new strains of the virus rendered them ineffective and were repealed late last year after mass protests. This was followed by a wave of infections across the country. The demonstrations have become a test of President Xi Jinping’s authority.
Wu Zunyou died on Friday in Beijing after unsuccessful treatment for the disease, the Chinese CDC said in an obituary on its website.
“Out of respect for the deceased’s wishes for a simple funeral ceremony [viešas] the farewell will not take place,” the obituary reads.
Several state-affiliated media outlets, citing sources inside China’s CDC, said the cause of Wu Zunyou’s death was pancreatic cancer.
Born in 1963, Wu Zunyou worked at a disease prevention station in his home province of Anhui, and then earned a doctorate in infectious diseases from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the United States.
In 2005, he joined the Chinese CDC and gained recognition for his work in AIDS prevention, becoming the organization’s leading expert on infectious diseases.
Since 2020, when China implemented a zero-covid policy, he has made regular appearances on state television, often wearing a simple gray suit and glasses, speaking softly about the need to control the deadly virus.
#Chinas #top #virus #expert #dies #aged
