“Ultimately there may be just a few hospitals, those which specialise in infectious diseases [to take in patients dispersed across different hospitals currently],” said Wang, who has been treating seriously ill patients at the Sino-French New City branch of the Tongji Hospital in Wuhan since February 8.

Wang said he was not fearful or anxious, despite his long stay in a new environment while battling a deadly, highly-contagious virus. He said he had adapted well.

“There was no need to fear,” he said. “You need to protect yourself well and remain stable psychologically. These are the most important,” said Wang, whose specialty is treating elderly patients at one of Beijing’s top hospitals.

More than 42,000 health workers from outside Hubei province were later sent to help contain the epidemic.

Wang is a member of a medical team of more than 150 staff workers from Beijing Hospital. It is responsible for one unit of the Tongji Hospital which was designed predominantly for elderly people with serious conditions.

“Renovation of the wards we work in only finished the day following our arrival,” Wang said. “Before that, they were not meant for infectious diseases.”

The first time he worked in the unit was the most hectic, he recalled.

“Me and another doctor working in the contaminated area received 18 patients within six hours. We make six hours a shift. So the battle mode was turned on as soon as we started working,” he said.

“They all had severe symptoms but had been quarantined at home [because there were no hospital beds].

“They were quite emotional, fearing they would be turned away again. I even thought about how I should prevent violence [against me and my colleagues],” he said.

He later realised they had been transported around the city in a bus for several hours because of local officials’ disorganisation.

The chaos was not just in hospital. His 140-person team brought more than 600 boxes of medical materials and daily necessities with them but were only able to settle in after visiting three hotels, Wang said.

He was grateful to the local workers, who had tried their best to accommodate the team.

“All these hotels were closed the day before we arrived. Some of their staff couldn’t resume work because they were either under home quarantine or in other districts.

“For those who managed to resume duty, some had no idea what was going on with their family members, some prepared to not go home for months, and some had even just lost their beloved,” Wang said.

Circumstances gradually improved, however, as support from across the country came in.

The team has treated 100 patients in the past six weeks but it has also witnessed four deaths and is still caring for about 32 patients.

“This disease is really cruel. For those who have mild symptoms, they may recover by dancing and singing, while for those with severe symptoms, they may not be cured whatever treatment they receive,” he said.

Having volunteered to come to Wuhan, Wang said he was used to this kind of workload.

“This is a time when I should perform to the best of my ability, either in terms of medical skills, physical state or psychological quality,” he said.

He has been confined to a hotel room for most of his time after work but has tried to make most of it by continuing his hobbies. He does exercises, including body building and yoga, for at least 40 minutes every day and practises calligraphy whenever he has the time.

And now he can even jog in a nearby park that was reopened a few weeks ago for medical workers.

This article is one in a series exploring the experiences of recovered Covid-19 patients around the world