Recovered healthcare workers return to virus frontlines

The new coronavirus has infected thousands of doctors, nurses and other health workers across France, but those who have recovered are back on the frontlines.

"It's a bit like what happened in the First World War. People were wounded and came back to the battlefield," said Philippe Montravers, head of anesthesiology and intensive care at Bichat Hospital in Paris.

Dr Aurelie Gouel, an intensive care unit doctor at the Bichat Hospital said she fell sick and had to go off duty for a week.

But as soon as she felt well enough, she went straight back to work.

''I have kids. I have a family. But the place I belong to right now is the hospital because I have to take care of the patients," she said.

There have been more than 12,000 deaths due to the coronavirus in France.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and could lead to death.