Coronavirus: Doctor with Covid-19 shares daily symptoms diary
Dr Yale Tung Chen's daily routine includes drinking water and doing push-ups
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Your support makes all the difference.A doctor who caught coronavirus while treating patients in Madrid has been giving a first-hand account on social media about what it’s like to have Covid-19.
Dr Yale Tung Chen, 35, from Spain, has been sharing updates on his Twitter account as the virus progresses, talking about the symptoms and even sharing ultrasounds of his lungs with followers.
The doctor, who works as an emergency physician at the Hospital Universitario La Paz in Madrid, became unwell at the end of his shift and tested positive for the virus on Sunday.
Dr Chen then started giving daily insights into his symptoms on 9 March.
He began the online diary by tweeting that he had a sore throat and a strong headache and a dry cough, but no shortness of breath.
Alongside information about symptoms Dr Chen has included ultrasound videos of his lungs, detailing a medical analysis of how the virus is advancing.
He told LBC that it was concern for his family that forced him to get tested.
He said he did not want to be “even the slightest threat“ to his wife and children and felt ”relieved“ when that test eventually came back positive.
”From that moment on, I had myself isolated in a room in my house, and avoided any contact with anybody in the house,“ he told the broadcaster.
The first ultrasound video now has more than140,000 views on twitter and the 35-year-old has been inundated with well wishes in the comments of his posts.
On day three Dr Chen started to refer to the tweets as “#mycoviddiary” and he reported no sore throat, headache or shortness of breath but admitted facing a new symptom of diarrhoea.
He has currently shared four days worth of updates, with his latest tweet detailing symptoms of coughing and very bad tiredness.
In terms of treating the symptoms, Dr Chen told LBC that he is taking ibuprofen and paracetamol, drinking lots of water and doing push-ups every day, although he in no way suggested this as a course of treatment for the virus.
He added: ”I’m doing fine.“
For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough.
For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, Covid-19 can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover.
The virus, which has now been classed as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), has spread to more than 120,000 people worldwide.
Spain currently has at least 1,639 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 36 deaths, according to the WHO.
It is one of the 26 countries affected by President Donald Trump’s coronavirus travel ban, which has restricted all flights into the US from a host of nations in Europe.
Additional reporting by The Associated Press
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