Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
AsiaWire / DMU
China’s oldest critically ill coronavirus patient to recover from the disease has been discharged from hospital aged 98.
Hu Huanying, from Jing’an District in COVID-19 epicentre Wuhan, which is in the province of Hubei in Central China, was given a clean bill of health and released from Leishenshan Hospital on 1st March.
Her wheelchair was pushed out of the facility by her daughter, Ms Ding, 54, who was hospitalised at the same time on 13th February.
The mother and child were among five members of the same family to be infected by the deadly novel coronavirus, the spread of which led to the lockdown of the city and then the entire province at the end of January.
According to reports, Ms Hu and her daughter were placed in Zone 10 of Leishenshan Hospital, a 1,600 temporary facility built in just 10 days in a car park.
Zone 10 is assigned to an emergency medical team assisting from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, which is located in north-eastern Liaoning Province.
Her doctor, Sui Shaoguang, said she was deemed critically ill after presenting with severe COVID-19 symptoms including a high fever reaching 40 degrees Celsius as well as breathing difficulties.
She was given 24-hour care until her symptoms stabilised, and she was discharged with her daughter after a 16-day stay at the hospital where just under 1,000 patients are still being treated.
As there is no cure for the coronavirus, Ms Hu was given antiviral medication and nutritional support, Doctor Sui said.
Medics who treated Ms Hu were present as she and her daughter thanked doctors and nurses outside Leishenshan Hospital.
She has since returned home to begin a period of further self-isolation.
Hospital did not disclose whether Ms Hu’s three other family members were still being treated, but she has been confirmed as the country’s most senior critically ill patient to recover from COVID-19.
Wang Xinghua, director of Wuhan’s Zhongnan Hospital and in charge of Leishenshan Hospital, told local media: “Her recovery will bring confidence to those still in treatment.”
According to reports, Leishenshan Hospistal had discharged 200 recovered patients as of 1st March.
The global COVID-19 death toll has reached 3,044, with nearly 90,000 confirmed cases worldwide as the disease spreads to Europe and North America.
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