A doctor who gave a chilling coronavirus warning when there were just seven confirmed cases has now been quarantined with the disease.
Doctor Li Wenliang, who worked at a hospital in the Chinese epicentre of Wuhan, sent a message to a group chat of medical students saying "quarantined in the emergency department".
One member of the group chat replied saying "so frightening", before asking if it could become as serious as the SARS epidemic that began in China and killed 800 people in 2003.
Three days after sending his message, Dr Wenliang, 34, was arrested in the middle of the night when police turned up at his home.
Dr Wenliang has now revealed he has tested positive for the disease after unknowingly treating a patient with it.
He is one of a number of so-called "rumourmongers" who are said to have been warned over speaking out about the seriousness of the situation in its early days, reports CNN.
China’s Supreme Court last week slammed Wuhan police for punishing the “rumormongers" and "whistleblowers".
The court ruling said: “It might have been a fortunate thing for containing the new coronavirus, if the public had listened to this ‘rumor’ at the time, and adopted measures such as wearing masks, strict disinfection and avoiding going to the wildlife market."
The coronavirus death toll in mainland China has overtaken the SARS epidemic of 2003 - while a new 1,000-bed hospital to help tackle the outbreak has been built in just eight days.
Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan, where the virus originated, is one of two dedicated facilities being constructed with 361 deaths now confirmed since the outbreak started in December.
The hospital, Huoshenshan, or "fire-god mountain", is designed to have 1,000 beds for patients with confirmed infections to ease a shortage of beds elsewhere in the city as the virus spreads.
Construction of Huoshenshan was copied from a hospital built in Beijing in 2003 that was dedicated to the fight against SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome.
More than 7,500 workers took part in the fast-build project, which commenced on January 25 and finished this weekend.
China is also building a second hospital in Wuhan dedicated to the treatment of coronavirus patients, with 1,600 beds.
Leishenshan, or "thunder-god mountain", is scheduled to be completed on February 5.
