Getting better

With the whole country sparing no effort to fight the epidemic alongside Wuhan, the turning point came in mid-February.

Wu said medical services have been able to fully meet demand since Feb 17, as "all kinds of aid poured in from all over the country".

After Wang Zhonglin, Wuhan's new Party chief, took up his post on Feb 13, patients were sent to different hospitals for treatment according to the severity of their conditions.

Zhang said the Zuoling health service started only treating patients not infected with novel coronavirus on Feb 18, when its last infected patient was transferred to a downtown hospital.

"The pressure was slightly relieved, but we still had lots of work to do, including epidemiological investigations, services at quarantine sites and checking for suspected infections," he said. "I hope Wuhan can return to normal as quickly as possible."

By March 4, there had been 200 confirmed cases in Zuoling, with 91 of them having recovered.

Chen was one of them. Now back home, she plays badminton for half an hour a day with her husband, if the weather permits.

The past month has also seen 30 healthy babies born in Zuoling. None of them has been infected with the virus.

Yin plans to move into a bigger house after the epidemic is defeated as the family has a new member.

The given name of her grandson is Jinyi. In Chinese, Jin means "beautiful jade" and Yi means "ever shining".

"He is like a beautiful jade that shines in the dark, giving us light and hope," his grandmother said.

Yu Hang and Li Jia contributed to this story.