Two Chinese doctors who were infected with the coronavirus while treating patients in the epicenter city of Wuhan survived the deadly illness - but their skin turned very dark after they were placed on life support.
Dr. Yi Fan and Dr. Hu Weifeng, both 42, were both diagnosed with COVID-19 on Jan. 18 while working at the Wuhan Central Hospital.
The gravely ill physicians were taken to the Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital and then transferred twice.
Dr. Yi Fan and Dr. Hu Weifeng
The two men’s changed skin color was attributed to a hormonal imbalance after their livers were damaged by the bug.
But one doctor suspected that their skin turned dark due to a specific drug they received at the beginning of their treatment.
Yi, a cardiologist, was hooked up to an ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) life support machine for 39 days.
The machine, which is similar to the heart-lung bypass machine used in open-heart surgery, pumps and oxygenates a patient’s blood outside the body.
Doctor Hu was taking care of a patient before he got coronavirus
Hu, a urologist, has been bedridden for 99 days and is still very weak after undergoing ECMO therapy from Feb. 7 to March 22, according to his physician, Dr. Li Shusheng.
He only regained his ability to speak on April 11, said Li, who added that the doctors’ normal color is expected to return when their liver functions improve.