For one family, neither treatment nor closure in virus-hit Wuhan

It was in early January that Summer Yang first heard about a mysterious virus sickening people in her home city of Wuhan.

The 40-year-old property investor was concerned for her elderly parents. But authorities told the public on January 5 there was no evidence the new type of coronavirus could be transmitted from human to human.

So, Summer put her fears away.

Then, on January 17, Summer’s 64-year-old mother came down with a fever. Following a CT scan and a blood test, doctors said they suspected a coronavirus infection. The family decided to keep her at home, believing she was safer there.

A week later, soon after Chinese authorities confirmed human-to-human transmission and imposed a virtual lockdown on Wuhan and Hubei province in an effort to contain the virus, Summer’s 65-year-old father also contracted a fever.

Yang Liguo was already suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes and coronary heart disease, so Summer rushed him to the Wuhan Central Hospital. There, doctors told her they suspected a coronavirus infection and treated him with intravenous antibiotics for three days.

His condition did not improve but he was told to go home.