Elderly patient seen in sunset photo released from hospital

An 87-year-old novel coronavirus patient in Wuhan, Hubei province, who grabbed public attention due to a photo of him watching a sunset with his doctor, was discharged from hospital on Thursday after two months of treatment.

"I'm fully recovered now. I can do things by myself－for example, walking, like I used to," the patient, Wang Xin, told People's Daily.

Wang, also a violinist with the Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra, was admitted to Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University on Feb 11 and had been taken care of by medical teams from Shanghai and Sichuan province who came to aid Hubei.

During his treatment, a photo of him watching a sunset on his bed in the company of a doctor went viral.

Liu Kai, his former doctor from Zhongshan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University in Shanghai, was taking him for a CT scan on March 5 when Liu asked if he wanted to stop and watch the sunset. Wang gave a quick nod of approval, and then both of them enjoyed the waning light of the day.

Gan Junchao, 21, a student from Wuhan Technical College of Communications who volunteered at the hospital, took the picture.

As the picture gained likes online, netizens called it "the warmest scene during the epidemic" they had seen.

Wang took his violin with him to the hospital and played when he was alone in the ward. On Tuesday, he played a song called Farewell against the setting sun to express his gratitude to the medical workers, online news website ThePaper.cn reported.

Though seniors are more at risk from the coronavirus, a large number of elderly patients in China like Wang have recovered and been discharged from hospital after careful treatment.

A 103-year-old female patient surnamed Li, the eldest confirmed case so far, was discharged on March 16. She was sent to the Wuhan Third Hospital on March 3, and despite having mild symptoms she was treated in the intensive care unit given her age and health condition.

wangkeju@chinadaily.com.cn