With millions of people already infected by COVID-19 in China, officials have stopped publishing statistics, but that has not helped health professionals at the frontline desperately trying to treat a sick population.

The massive increase in the number of new infections happened after the government lifted restrictions, with the last estimates before official statistics were released indicating more than a million new cases a day.

Only recently leaked Chinese health paperwork suggested as many as 250 million people were infected at the start of December.

Doctors and nurses are reportedly working massive amounts of overtime, with a risk to their own health.

As this picture shows, one young nurse struggling to keep up was spotted at work with an IV drip in her arm in order to keep going.

The woman who shot the video, identified only by the surname Tao, said she saw many doctors and nurses turning up even though they were obviously sick themselves, including this nurse working at a hospital in Xinyang, Henan Province.

She said: “I saw many of them had infusion bottles and they were hanging them on clothes racks or holding them themselves so they could carry on working. It was really upsetting and wished I could somehow help them.”

She added that she had shared the videos because she wanted to publicly wish them all a speedy recovery.