Li-Meng Yan

Li-Meng Yan
Born	People's Republic of China, Qingdao city
Education	Southern Medical University PhD
Known for	Whistleblower
Medical career
Profession	Post-Doctoral Researcher
Field	Medicine
Institutions	The University of Hong KongPublic Health College
Sub-specialties	Immunology
Research	Influenza vaccine, Cell-mediated immunity

Template:Chinese name Li-Meng Yan (simplified Chinese: 闫丽梦; traditional Chinese: 閆麗夢), is a Chinese virologist and researcher. Yan claims she is a whistleblower who researched the covid-19 at the University of Hong Kong, later leaving the city for the United States. Yan believes the Chinese government and the World Health Organization knew about person-to-person transmission of COVID-19 much earlier than reported, even before releasing reports to the contrary. She is currently living and hiding in the U.S.

Background

Yan received her MD degree from XiangYa Medical College of Central South University, China, and her PhD from Southern Medical University, China. Her research includes the study of a universal influenza vaccine, cross-reactive antibodies and cellular immunology. At the time of the COVID-19 pandemic she was employed at the Hong Kong School of Public Health, Hong Kong University, conducting research specialised in virology and immunology.

COVID-19

Yan says she was one of the first scientists in the world to study the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China, after Dr. Leo Poon, her supervisor at the Hong Kong University (a WHO reference lab), asked her to look into the cluster of SARS-like cases in Wuhan, in December 2019. Yan says she maintained an extensive network of medical professionals from mainland China, one of whom told Yan about human-to-human transmission of the novel disease on December 31, 2019., the same day the Wuhan municipal government publicly announced the discovery of cases of "pneumonia with unknown origins". The Chinese government officially provided information to the WHO on January 3, 2020 and determined the outbreak is caused by a novel coronavirus (later known as COVID-19) on January 9 . On the same day, the WHO released a statement saying that there was "no significant evidence" of person-to-person transmission of the novel coronavirus. According to Yan, she reported her findings about the virus to her superiors on January 16, after which she was warned "to keep silent and be careful," otherwise she "will get in trouble and [will] be disappeared.". It is unclear if the findings she reported to her supervisor were information gathered from her professional network or original scientific research concerning human-to-human transmission of COVID-19.

The Chinese government announced strict lockdown measures in Wuhan and other regions of China on January 23 to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, approximately one week after Yan was allegedly warned by her superiors. The lockdown in Wuhan, the original epicenter of the pandemic, was lifted on April 8. In the same month, Yan fled Hong Kong and traveled to the United States to "raise awareness about the pandemic and the Chinese government's role in it". She arrived at LAX and was allegedly questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for hours after which she was released.

The University of Hong Kong denied the facts she claimed and pointed out that Yan never conducted any research on human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus at HKU during December 2019 and January 2020, her central assertion of the said interview.