Elderly COVID-19 patients tell of how they were treated in China

Married for 60 years, 79-year-old Fu Chunzhi and 84-year-old Li Hongsheng were both diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia.

“I have never seen any disease as terrifying as this one,” said Fu, “fortunately, the Wuhan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine took very good care of us.”

They were hospitalized for 11 days.

Fu began to have symptoms such as fever, coughing and ejecting phlegm from February 4. Her body temperature reached 39 degrees Celsius at its worst. Her husband Li began to have symptoms like coughing, ejecting phlegm and fatigue from February 6.

When Li went with Fu to the hospital for a follow-up visit, he had a CT check, which indicated infection in his lung as well. On Feb 13, they were both admitted to the hospital for being highly suspected to have the novel coronavirus. Soon their cases were confirmed.

“After checking into hospital, the auntie (Fu) was in low spirits, and a little out of breath, said Yu Liping, a doctor from Wuhan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, who treated the couple. "We put them into the same ward so they could encourage each other and won't feel lonely."

After medics carried out symptomatic treatments combined with Traditional Chinese Medicine, the elderly couple’s symptoms went into remission. They finally tested negative in their nucleic acid tests and were discharged from hospital on February 24.

Li Hongsheng, 84, holds hands with his wife Fu Chunzhi, 79, in Wuhan, Hubei province. (Photo: China Daily)

“I’ve regained my vitality and am no longer scared. And we are grateful to everyone for our recovery,” Fu said.

When asked if they spent any money on the treatment, Fu said: “We have our health insurance cards. We didn’t pay anything from our own pocket.”

“We enjoyed the services and care provided by our country, by the government and the hospital,” she said. 

According to the National Health Commission, by April 11, seven of the eight centenarian COVID-19 patients in Wuhan had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, with the oldest aged 108.

The overall cure rate of COVID-19 in Wuhan has been improved to 94 percent, with that of patients aged above 80 nearing 70 percent.