2 Chinese doctors turn black men after battling severe coronavirus

Reports say the two Chinese doctors Dr Yi Fan and Dr Hu Weifeng, both 42, fell critically ill after they were diagnosed with the novel Coronavirus while treating patients at the Wuhan Central Hospital in January.

Doctors reportedly told Chinese state media that their abnormal skin colour is caused by hormonal imbalances after their livers were damaged by the virus.

After testing positive for the disease on January 18, the two doctors were taken first to the Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital and then transferred twice, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

They are said to be colleagues with late Li Wenliang who was arrested for raising the alarm of the virus and died of the disease on February 7.

Dr Yi, a cardiologist, gained relief from COVID-19 after doctors hooked him to a life-support machine called ECMO for 39 days.

ECMO is a drastic life-support procedure that replaces the function of the heart and lungs by pumping oxygen into the blood outside the body.

He told CCTV from his hospital bed today, Dr Yi said he had largely recovered despite still struggling to walk on his own.

“When I first gained conscious, especially after I got to know about my condition, I felt scared. I had nightmares often,” Dr Yi revealed, adding he gradually overcame the psychological hurdle after doctors comforted him and arranged counselling for him.

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In the case of the other, Dr Hu, his condition was more serious and has been bed-bound for 99 days and his overall health is weak, reports say.

“He could not stop talking to the doctors who come to check on him,” said Dr Li Shusheng who has been treating him.

Dr Hu underwent ECMO therapy from February 7 to March 22 and regained his ability to speak on April 11. He is still being looked after in the intensive care units in the same hospital as Dr Yi.

Dr Li assured that the skin colour of the two doctors will return to normal after the function of their livers improves, saying the darkness might be due to a type of medicine they had received at the beginning of the treatment. He added that one of the drug's side effects is the darkening of the skin colour.
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