“Please take care of yourself. I will be fine as long as you are safe,” Cao Shan, a nurse at the Jinyintan Hospital, one of the designated hospitals in Wuhan to admit coronavirus patients, said to her husband. She expressed concern about her husband Tu Shengjin, physician-in-charge at the ICU of the hospital.

Tu Shengjin and Cao Shan (People's Daily Online/Wang Yuran)

The couple has fought against the coronavirus on the front line ever since the outbreak of the coronavirus.

When he was first assigned to fight with the infectious virus, Tu Shengjin didn’t hesitate or back off. “It is my job and I don’t want to step back,” he said.

As Tu and his colleagues are dealing with patients that are severely infected, they are faced with great pressure and loads of work. Although caught off guard at the very beginning, they gradually became better prepared, which makes them more confident about the final victory against the virus, according to Tu.

Tu is very worried about his wife, though. Nurses are even more tired than doctors, especially when they are dealing with patients that have been quarantined, said Tu. They not only need to provide medical care for the patients, but need to feed the aged patients and change their diapers and etc.

Concerned as they are about the risks of infection, they choose to focus on their work and what they can do. They would take every opportunity they can to encourage each other to keep their spirits up.

The couple have rarely been home for a long time for fear of increasing the risk of infecting their families. They either rest in their offices or sleep in their cars. They will be able to sleep in the hotels around the hospital soon as arranged by the hospital.