A Chinese couple held a special wedding ceremony at a designated hospital to treat patients infected with the novel coronavirus in central China’s Henan province.

Shi Weili is a general practitioner at the Department of General Practice of the Henan Provincial People’s Hospital, and the bride-to-be, Li Mingyan, is a doctor at the International Medical Center of Henan in the same hospital.

They planned to hold a wedding ceremony on Feb. 9, but the virus outbreak disrupted their plan.

“We had been planning for months, but since the outbreak of the epidemic, we have fought together on the front lines and had not time to care about our wedding,” the groom-to-be said, adding that gatherings and feasts across the country have been cancelled as the epidemic situation remains grave.

As a general practitioner, Shi had to conduct normal medial work at his department, and carry out tasks related to the epidemic prevention and control. At the same time, Li needed to stick to her post.

However, Li wondered if they could hold the wedding ceremony without affecting their duties in the fight against the epidemic. It occurred to her that they could continue with their plans for a wedding right there on the battlefield, the hospital where they work, which would undoubtedly become a memorable moment to cherish throughout life.

They agreed with the idea and told their parents as well as management at the hospital. “Surprisingly, they agreed,” the couple said with smiles.

During the lunch break hour on Feb. 9, the special wedding ceremony was held at the hospital. First, the groom went to the demonstration classroom of the International Medical Center to pick up the bride and took her to the site of the wedding ceremony, the demonstration classroom of the Department of General Practice.

Then, their colleagues showed paper cuttings with written blessings, and directors of the two departments pinned red flowers on their dress, respectively. All procedures related to the wedding were more or less conducted in a standard way.

“It is an especially meaningful wedding ceremony,” Li said.