Hectic working life

Since then, she has worked 8 am to 5 pm most days, but has also rotated to work night shifts. On a normal working day, she makes as many as 50 phone calls, checks more than 40 units and attends numerous emergency consultations. She has only taken one break while on duty, having rested for just 10 minutes at noon on Jan 20, when she had hypoglycemia.

Zhang often attends clinical treatment meetings during the day and conducts related research at night. She keeps thinking about the cases and writing down her thoughts at work, and later shares her experience with front-line doctors.

Her intense schedule is reflected in her log.

"January 19, night shift: I took charge of both the fever clinic and the observation room on the second floor. I began answering consultation calls before it was time for work. From 5 pm to 10:45 pm, there were 24 medical calls," Zhang wrote.

"Of course, I(worked hard) trying to understand the causes and come up with personalized treatment plans for those infected. There could be similarities in the treatment of the unexplained pneumonia. Although we don't have a proven, effective treatment for the coronavirus, it won't stop us from offering all the treatment we can to the patents."

Commitment

She is not alone in her fight. Since the outbreak started, more than 7,000 employees of Zhang's hospital and tens of thousands of medical personnel from across the country have committed themselves to fighting the epidemic. Many gave up their Spring Festival holidays to join the battle.

As of 8 pm on Feb 5, a total of 107 medical teams and 10,596 medical team members were assisting with prevention and treatment work in Hubei, including 9,061 medical team members in Wuhan.

Sun Chunxuan, a male nurse from Jiangsu province, volunteered to go to Wuhan when he heard that the Jiangsu government was recruiting local medical staff members to support the stricken city.

He even postponed his wedding after discussing the matter with his fiancee, a doctor who runs a clinical laboratory at a hospital. In turn, she volunteered to work at fever clinics in Nanjing, Jiangsu's capital.

"We have no regrets about our decision. We will marry when I return home after our victory," Sun said.

In addition to medical staff members, hundreds of thousands of people are actively seeking ways to make a contribution, either on the front line or through donations of money, food, face masks and other items, either from their homes or workplaces.

On Jan 28, about 45 sanitation workers in Wuhan volunteered to help clean local hospitals.

Cao Yinxiu, a 47-year-old who has worked in the sector for 12 years, was one of them. Last year, the industry veteran participated in cleaning work at several major events, including the World Fly-in Expo and the World Military Games, which were both held in Wuhan.

Cao said she and her colleagues were well-prepared for the task. "If there's anything I can do to help, I will certainly try," she said, adding that she had to persuade her son that she would be OK, as he was strongly opposed to her decision initially.

When he heard about the spread of the coronavirus, Muhammad Usman Janjua, 29, who lectures in clinical internal medicine at Changsha Medical University in Hunan province, wrote to the authorities and asked for permission to join the fight in Wuhan.

Having arrived in China in 2007, the Pakistan-born practitioner graduated from Hunan University of Chinese Medicine with a bachelor's in 2012. He joined the Central South University in Changsha to study for a master's in internal medicine in 2016, and became a lecturer at the medical university after finishing grad school.

"It is a doctor's duty and mission to heal the wounded and assist the dying. I am still awaiting approval. If I cannot go to Wuhan, I will do my best to help the hospital in Changsha and the students at the university, and give a professional interpretation of the virus and psychological counseling to overseas students," he said.