Coronavirus patients in Wuhan look to no one but themselves for survival

Patients are being turned away as hospitals struggle to cope with epidemic, finds William Yang

People wait for medical attention at Wuhan Red Cross Hospital (AFP/Getty)

It was 25 January, two days after the Chinese government imposed a lockdown on Wuhan, that Eric’s father started to fall ill. He first complained about feeling feverish, then he began to have difficulty catching his breath. These were all symptoms of the mysterious pneumonia that had swept through Wuhan like a wildfire since the end of December.

Eric tried to get his father to Wuhan Union Hospital, since it had been designated as one of the few centres to examine patients who had contracted the coronavirus. Unfortunately, the strict rules on road traffic meant he would either have to try his luck to get a licensed driver to take him and his dad to the hospital, or they would have to squeeze into one of the two cabs shared by the community to get there.

In the end, a friend gave them a lift to the hospital. The real nightmare only began when they arrived at the hospital, as patients and their family members flooded the hospital’s entrance, making it impossible to find the starting point of the line. After waiting in line for three and a half hours, Eric and his father finally made it inside the hospital.