96-year-old woman is oldest South Korean to fully recover from coronavirus

A 93-year-old South Korean woman reportedly infected with the novel coronavirus has fully recovered and has been released from quarantine, city officials reportedly confirmed. The patient was a resident at a nursing hospital in the southeastern city of Gyeongsan and was discharged from the Seoul hospital. The city is located nearby Daegu, an epicentre of the outbreak. 

A city official, on account of anonymity, told the state media that the patient was the oldest person among recovered of the COVID-19 cases. She previously had symptoms of dementia but did not have any other underlying disease, he added. At least 3,166 people have fully recovered so far, incrementing the figures by 257 from a day earlier, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The rate of full recovery has steadily increased over the past 10 days to reach a record high of 35.8 per cent, as per the media reports. 

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Patient had lung infection history

Ding, her daughter, tearfully told the press as she was leaving the hospital that she had thought that her mother wouldn’t make it considering how deadly the COVID-19 disease was thought to be. The woman, Hu Hanying, was in critical condition when she and her daughter were transferred to the makeshift hospital on February 13. 

A medic told the press that the woman had a high fever with burns on her skin when she was admitted to the hospital. The patient was also diagnosed with severe lung infections and ran the risk of heart failure, he was quoted saying. Her condition, however, gradually improved. She was given round-the-clock care and a series of anti-virus treatment, according to reports. She was allowed to leave the hospital after two consecutive nucleic acid tests came back negative, the medic told the state media. As of yesterday, nearly 200 people reportedly recovered after being treated at the Leishenshan field hospital. 

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