Scientist, 98, And His Wife, 85, Both Recover From Coronavirus

A 98-year-old Chinese scientist and his 85-year-old wife have recovered from the novel coronavirus on the same day after being treated for 18 days.

They will be discharged this Saturday from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University in eastern Chinese city Hangzhou, according to state media.

The scientist, Han Tianqi, has been a well-respected astronomer for 63 years.





Mr Han and his wife were diagnosed with the deadly disease in mid-February and transferred to the provincial hospital on February 24 after their conditions worsened.

They were sent straight to the Intensive Care Units as the couple were in critical condition.

Mr and Mrs Han also suffered other complications caused by multiple underlying health conditions, the hospital told the press.



Han Shijun, the couple's granddaughter, posted a request on social media sites looking for recovered patients who were willing to donate their blood as a potential treatment plan.

'Grandpa sounded very weak. It took him a very long time to recognise my voice when we were on the phone,' the granddaughter told the local press in February.

Scientists believe the treatment works, in theory, by putting disease-fighting proteins from recovered patients into people still battling the illness.

The sick patients' bodies can then use these proteins – called antibodies – as if they were there own, instead of having to make them from scratch.

Some Chinese hospitals have said they are using the therapy already but only on their patients – there is no mass-produced drug or supply of it.



It is unclear if the couple has received such treatment or are cured of it.

Their conditions gradually improved after receiving personalised treatment plans and being given round-the-clock care, Chinese media report.

Mr and Mrs Han have tested negative twice consecutively by 12pm local time today and will be released from the hospital on Saturday.



A 103-year-old grandmother has also recovered from the coronavirus following six-day treatment in Wuhan on Tuesday.

The centenarian, Zhang Guangfen, was discharged from the hospital on March 10.

She is so far the oldest coronavirus patient to recover in China and two years older than the previous recorder-holder, 101.

Ms Zhang was cured within less than a week because 'she did not have many underlying health conditions', her doctor Zeng Yulan told the local press.




The news comes as Chinese officials announced today that 'the peak of the coronavirus in the country has passed'.

South Korea reported its sharpest one-day increase yesterday in the number of cases after a large cluster of infections was discovered at a call centre in its capital Seoul.

The killer virus has claimed at least 4,641 lives and infected over 126,600 people worldwide.

[By Daily Mail]