Yunnan medical workers in Hubei: Tired but fulfilled

On January 29, the Critical Care Patient Treatment Group of Yunnan Cancer Hospital NCP Relief Team came to the First People's Hospital of Xianning, Hubei, a designated hospital for receiving patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP). The eleven medical workers of us were assigned to different departments of the hospital to assist in epidemic prevention and treatment.

When two teammates and I volunteered to join the infectious disease ward, the other teammates said to us repeatedly "We come together and we must return together. Everyone must be safe!"

In the isolation ward, everything we learned in the training came into use: wearing the mask, hat, gown, gloves, and faceshield... We strictly followed every required step, fully aware that the omission of a single detail could be risky.

I never knew it would be so hard to work while wearing a tight-fitting face mask. When you quicken your steps a little bit, it became difficult to breathe. It is still winter in Xianning, but our T-shirt, the only thing we wear under the protective clothing, sometimes becomes wet with sweat.

When we removed the faceshield, we could see the impressions it left on our face. Seeing the local medical staff at our side, we were filled with awe. They have fought for a long while under such circumstances. We could not help feeling sorry that it took us so long to come to their aid.

After a day's work, we returned to our quarters. Even away from the ward, we still must be careful. We divided our rooms into a polluted zone, a buffer zone, and a clean zone. We handle the objects in each zone according to different principles. 

In order to avoid cross-infection, we observed self-imposed quarantine. We never visited other rooms, got together, or went out without permission. When we needed to communicate, we did it on our cell phones.

When we reported and summarized the day's work, we stood in the open space outside the station, tired but fulfilled.

By Zhao Yanqiu, a member of the Critical Care Patient Treatment Group of Yunnan Cancer Hospital 2019 Novel Coronavirus Relief Team in Hubei Province