100-year-old Chinese man the world's oldest coronavirus survivor
The man was one of 80 patients discharged from the hospital Saturday after recovering from COVID-19.
By AARON REICHResidents line up to collect vegetables purchased through group orders at a residential area in Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, Hubei province, China March 5, 2020.(photo credit: REUTERS/STRINGER)
A 100-year-old man from China was discharged from the hospital Saturday after recovering from the coronavirus, making him the oldest known patient to successfully recover from COVID-19 disease, China's state-run media agency Xinhua reported.The man, who has not been named, was first admitted to a hospital in Wuhan – a city in China's Hubei Province where the outbreak began – on February 24. According to Xinhua, he also suffered from multiple underlying and pre-existing health conditions such as heart failure, hypertension and Alzheimer's disease.The virus is also far more deadly for the elderly and those with underlying conditions, with Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of tropical medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, referring to it during a US Congressional hearing as “the angel of death for older individuals.”As his condition was so complex, the hospital had to call in medical professionals from the military for consultations. The treatment lasted 13 days and included a wide variety of methods such as convalescent plasma therapy and traditional Chinese medicine.The coronavirus outbreak began in Wuhan but has since spread all over the world, infecting over 110,000 people and killing over 4,000, the vast majority of cases being in mainland China.Although over 64,000 people have recovered, it is still possible to catch the coronavirus again.The man was one of 80 patients discharged from the hospital Saturday after recovering from the coronavirus.
