(Beijing) Chinese COVID-19 expert Wu Zunyou, who had been on the front line during the epidemic, died Friday at age 60, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced.
Wu Zunyou died in Beijing “following medical treatment for an illness, which proved unsuccessful,” the CDC, where he became an expert on infectious diseases, said in a statement on its website. .
Several state media outlets, citing sources within the CDC, reported that the cause of Wu Zunyou’s death was pancreatic cancer.
In accordance with the wishes of Wu Zunyou, who requested a private burial, there will be no public ceremony, the CDC said.
Wu Zunyou regularly appeared in public to justify Beijing’s draconian measures in terms of confinement, mass testing and quarantines.
These measures initially helped stop the spread of COVID-19, but gave way under pressure from new variants that were spreading rapidly.
They were removed in late 2022 after mass protests tested President Xi Jinping’s grip on power, unleashing a torrent of infections across the country.
Born in 1963, Wu Zunyou worked at a disease prevention center in his native Anhui province before earning a doctorate in infectious diseases at the University of California (UCLA), United States.
Wu Zunyou joined the Chinese CDC in 2005 where his recognized work on AIDS prevention allowed him to become the organization’s expert on infectious diseases.
He was a regular feature on state television starting in 2020, when China implemented its “zero COVID-19” policy.
Wu Zunyou often wore a simple gray suit and glasses and spoke soberly about the need to control the deadly virus.