A photo of Li Wenliang is among the flowers people sent to the Central Hospital of Wuhan on Saturday. Photo: Cui Meng/GT

After investigation results of Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang, who is believed to be one of the first "whistleblowers" about the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in China, came out on Thursday, netizens flooded his social media account to "inform" the deceased that justice has been served and hailed him as a heroic whistleblower who tried to warn China about a looming coronavirus outbreak.

Wuhan police on Thursday revoked a reprimand order against Li and issued an official apology to the family of the deceased doctor, who raised the early alarm about the deadly novel coronavirus in late December, citing "inappropriate handling of the matter."

The apology came 42 days after an investigative team from China's top supervisory body was set up to probe Li's death, which raised a tsunami of grievance and public attention.

In Li's last post, where he said on February 1 that, "Today my nucleic acid test was positive. The dust has settled. I am finally confirmed with the infection [of COVID-19]." Comments soared to more than 659,000 as of Thursday night. Previously it was around 600,000.

Many want to "inform" him of the result, saying that he can be reassured because justice will eventually be served. "Is this the result you wanted?" asked one netizen.

"Today is a really good day. Zero new infections in Wuhan and Hubei. Wuhan police also apologized to you over the previous mishandling of your case. This doesn't come easy. Spring is coming," commented one netizen.

"They apologized," wrote another netizen, adding that "sometimes I am angry at them, only because I care too much about the soil and I want them to be better."

Almost all the comments under his post are positive; very few point fingers or make accusations.

However, the result did not satisfy some people, including some frontliane doctors and coworkers of Li, who said "it's not enough, but better than no result at all."

Ai Fen, director of the hospital's emergency department and who first shared a patient's report with colleagues on WeChat on December 30, before Li shared the report on social media, said in a WeChat post on Thursday that "seeking truth from fact is a test of the country's ultimate principles.

Revoking the reprimand order or not does not mean a lot when it comes to the opinions of professionals but their advice should be noted, another frontline doctor who has been fighting the coronavirus since the outbreak told the Global Times.

Ever since Li's death, his social media account has served as a "tree hole" for many netizens who had rushed to add comments under his final Weibo post, where they have shared their daily life stories and feelings for Li as if the doctor was still alive.

Li was one of the eight "whistleblowers" who tried to warn other medics about COVID-19 but was reprimanded by local authorities. On February 7, Li died from the disease, which sparked grief and anger across the country. Since then, many have paid their respects to his integrity and honesty, hailing him as a heroic whistleblower who tried to save lives.

The Global Times went through Li's Weibo account and found that he often shared his daily life stories on subjects including food, jokes and TV dramas.

There would be additional probes from relevant authorities into the slow action and poor performance by some organizations and personnel in response to the COVID-19 and any mishandling will be strictly held accountable, the investigation report from the country's top supervisory body said.