China’s top Communist Party investigators are looking into “relevant issues raised by the public” about a whistleblower doctor who was threatened by police after publicizing his concerns about the new virus and has now died from it. The party’s announcement Friday came as the death toll in mainland China rose to at least 636. The outbreak has now infected more than 31,400 people worldwide.

Cruise ship passengers faced more woe as Japan reported 41 new cases on a quarantined ship and turned away another.