![]() ![]() So doctors rely on a cocktail of other medicines, mostly antiviral drugs, to alleviate the symptoms. There is no known cure for Covid-19, the official name for the disease caused by the new coronavirus. “I think it’ll take 10 days, half a month,” she replied. Her husband sent a photograph of one of their cats at home. She texted her husband, urging him to wear a mask even at home, and to clean all their bowls and chopsticks with boiling water or throw them out. Deng checked into the hospital, she tried to stay upbeat. Xia asked her husband about the possibility of getting off oxygen therapy soon. He assured her his temperature was normal. Deng was admitted to the hospital, she told her husband to take care of himself, reminding him of the 14-day incubation period for the virus. She was placed in an isolation ward, treated by doctors and nurses who wore protective suits and safety goggles. Her roommate was a colleague who had also been diagnosed with the virus.Īt Jiangbei Hospital, 18 miles away, Dr. ![]() Her room in a newly opened staff ward was small, with two cots and a number assigned to each one. Her throat was swabbed for a genetic test, which confirmed she had the coronavirus. In the morning, she was admitted to the hospital. Deng checked into a hotel to avoid infecting her husband and 5-year-old daughter. Deng’s CT scan showed what the doctor called ground-glass opacities on her lower right lung - hazy spots that indicated fluid or inflammation around her airways. Chest scans showed damage to their lungs, a tell-tale sign of the coronavirus that is present in at least 85 percent of patients, according to one study. Many also feel fatigued.īoth women rushed to see doctors. About a fifth of people experience shortness of breath, often including a cough and congestion. When she woke up, her temperature was 100 degrees.įever is the most common symptom of the coronavirus, seen in nearly 90 percent of patients. Deng went home to shower, and then, feeling groggy, took a nap. She had spent the beginning of the outbreak visiting the families of confirmed patients and teaching them to disinfect their homes.Īfter forcing down some food, Ms. She brushed the feeling aside, figuring she was worn out by work. ![]() Deng, the nurse, was preparing to eat dinner at the hospital office, when the sight of food left her nauseated. Her chest felt tight.Ī few weeks later, in early February, Ms. Exhausted, she took a two-hour nap at home, then checked her temperature: It was 102 degrees. She dropped in frequently to check in on him.įive days later, she started feeling unwell. 14 when she was called back to attend to a patient - a 76-year-old man with suspected coronavirus. Xia, who was a favorite among elderly patients, spent long hours at the hospital helping to treat people suspected of having the virus.ĭr. Deng, a Wuhan native who liked makeup and hanging out with her friends at Starbucks, had worked for eight years as a nurse, following her mother’s career path. Deng’s favorite activity was playing with her two pet kittens, Fat Tiger and Little White, the second of which she had rescued just three months before falling sick. Her mother was a nurse there, too, and in their free time they watched movies or shopped together. 7 Hospital, in the city where she grew up and where the coronavirus pandemic began. Deng, a nurse, had worked for three years at Wuhan No. Both were married, each with a young child on whom she doted. Xia reflect the unpredictable nature of a virus that affects everyone differently, at times defying statistical averages and scientific research.Īs the new year opened in China, the women were leading remarkably similar lives. Around 68,000 people have recovered, while nearly 5,000 have died. But the virus’s progression can be quick, at which point the chances of survival plummet. The vast majority of cases have been mild, with limited symptoms. The virus has infected more than 1 32,000 globally. The difference between life and death can depend on the patient’s health, age and access to care - although not always. For others, it is a deadly infection that ravages the lungs and pushes the immune system into overdrive, destroying even healthy cells. For some, it can feel like a common cold. The world is still struggling to fully understand the new virus, its symptoms, spread and sources. Within a matter of weeks, they had gone from healthy medical professionals on the front lines of the epidemic in Wuhan, China, to coronavirus patients in critical condition. Instead, Deng Danjing and Xia Sisi were fighting for their lives in the same hospitals where they worked, weak from fever and gasping for breath. Mama was working hard, they said, to save sick people. The young mothers didn’t tell their children they had the coronavirus. ![]()
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