These doctors have to treat thousands of new coronavirus cases every week in Wuhan, the city at the center of the Covid-19 outbreak since December last year.
Wuhan’s deputy mayor said last week that the city was at risk of lacking 56,000 N95 masks and 41,000 protective suits every day.
Many of them have to wear the same suit for 6-9 hours, although in reality they should not wear protective gear for more than 4 hours while in the quarantine area.
The Chinese government has mobilized the whole country to increase the production of masks and protective gear.
`Even though we received more masks, the number of patients increased even faster,` said an anonymous doctor at a large hospital in Wuhan.
A doctor in Wuhan was sprayed with disinfectant solution by his colleagues on February 3.
Doctors were also forced to wear temporary protective suits, which were not effective enough in fighting the virus, said Xu Yuan, 34, a Chinese living in the US.
`As soon as he put it on, the suit cracked because it was too small,` she said, referring to a friend in Wuhan who had to wear a protective suit for five days.
About 44% of the 42,600 infections and the majority of the 1,113 deaths in mainland China are in Wuhan, where the outbreak began.
The Chinese government often reports individual cases of medical staff infected with Covid-19, but has never released overall statistics.
The risks that Wuhan medical staff are facing have attracted even more attention after the death of Dr. Ly Van Luong on February 8 due to corona virus infection.
Doctor (left) chats with a male patient in the quarantine area in Wuhan on February 3.
In the process of treating patients, doctors in Wuhan also faced another major challenge, a doctor at a large hospital in Wuhan, whose colleagues were treating patients infected with the new corona virus,
`They were exhausted,` she said.
`They are under a lot of pressure,` the doctor said, adding that the hospital where she worked gave psychological tests to doctors.
`Many Wuhan residents are also very worried,` said a doctor at a community clinic in the city.
`You can hear their cries for help, but your hands are tied,` the doctor said, referring to families with patients stuck at home without medical treatment.
This doctor said he and at least 16 colleagues are having similar symptoms of corona virus infection, such as lung infection and cough.
He added that all medical staff without fever will continue to fight.
