Difficult beginning

Like the rest of Wuhan, Zuoling faced serious challenges at the very beginning as nobody knew about the highly infectious virus and few had dealt with such a public health emergency.

The residents of Zuoling did not realize the risk initially, and many were reluctant to wear masks. With the approach of Spring Festival, a traditional holiday which fell on Jan 25 this year, many families organized parties to celebrate.

Chen Xianyun, Yin's neighbor, said she felt unwell at the beginning of January but did not realize she had been infected with the novel coronavirus. She didn't even know when, where or how she was infected.

The Party chief of Zuoling Subdistrict, Wu Weiguan, said: "This is the area I am responsible for. We must find a way to treat as many patients as we can."

Wu, 51, said the local government launched an emergency management mechanism as early as Jan 19 and established a command system to coordinate the response to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

His experience working in a hospital during the hepatitis A epidemic in 1992 gave Wu the courage to combat the new virus, and he quickly arranged for the subdistrict's staff members to cancel their holidays and work overtime with him. They raised 200,000 yuan ($28,600) to buy masks, disinfectant and other health protection supplies. Those efforts later proved valuable for epidemic control.

Led by Wu, 260 local government staff members, 190 volunteers and 600 staff members of property management companies in the area formed teams to direct the disease prevention effort and ensure the supply of daily necessities.

"It was really difficult at that time," Wu said. "The entire system was not mobilized due to the Spring Festival holiday. We had to work with the health center to find ways to treat patients."

On Jan 30, the Zuoling health service center became a quarantine spot for people suspected of being infected.

Zhang, the center's director, helped bring in more than 500 patients and didn't go home for more than 40 days.

"As I walked downstairs with a patient on my back, I could feel his breathing and heartbeat," he said. "Although wearing protective clothing, I was really terrified at that time. But since I chose to be a doctor, my duty is to heal the wounded and preserve life."