The Chinese government has been accused of carrying out a summoning mission over Christians sharing or publishing information about the coronavirus outbreak.

Li Wanhua, a pastor from Fengle Church in Guangdong, was summoned by State security officers for sharing a social media post from Dr Li Wenliang, one of the virus' original whistle-blowers.

According to religious freedom charity China Aid, an informed Christian said that officials are now questioning pastors and lawyers in conjunction with the virus.

Another Christian was seized on 7th February by the local authority for asking his friends to fast and pray for "peace and safety" due to the spread of the illness.

Attorney Jiang Yongli was also called into the police station because of a shared social media post about the virus. He was questioned about the intentions behind publishing such a post.

Jiang said he wanted to "spread knowledge about how to prevent it, cut down the chances of infection, and advocate for the marginalized who cannot get medical help… find out the virus's culprit, and severely penalize them… and to improve all kinds of systems to ensure that citizens won't be harmed by the same system that has been hurting people during this Wuhan sickness."

The charity said Jiang's statement alludes to many Chinese citizens' discontent with their government's handling of the virus, especially after they ignored Dr Li Wenliang, who had previously warned a group of doctors about a virus which appeared similar to SARS.

Dr Li died from COVID-19 on 7th February, just five weeks after he reported it.