Grandma, 103, recovers from coronavirus in less than a week

A 103-year-old grandmother over in China has recovered from the coronavirus in less than a week.

It took the woman just six days of treatment to overcome the illness, making her the oldest person to recover from coronavirus.

Zhang Guangfen was discharged from hospital in Wuhan yesterday afternoon, according to reports.

Chutian Metropolis Daily

Her doctor, Zeng Yulan, told local media that Ms Zhang overcame the illness in less than a week because she had no underlying health conditions apart from mild chronic bronchitis.

The grandmother was diagnosed with coronavirus on March 1st at Liyuan Affiliated Hospital of Tongji Medical College in Wuhan, and was reportedly in critical condition when she arrived.

She could barely communicate and nurses had to spoon-feed her meals, but Ms Zhang slowly recovered thanks to round-the-clock care and nutrition therapy sessions.

Footage showed her being escorted from the hospital into an ambulance by medical workers.

China Military Online

This comes after the news that a 100-year-old man also recovered from the illness.

The patient suffered from Alzheimer’s, high blood pressure and heart failure, but managed to survive thanks to being treated with blood donated by former patients, Chinese media reports.

Cai Chen, a doctor from the hospital in Wuhan where he was treated, told the media: “Considering the patient was very old and he had a relatively weak immune system, we decided to use recovered coronavirus patient’s blood plasma as the main treatment”.

Chinese hospitals have been trialling the treatment, which scientists believe works by infusing sick people with disease-fighting proteins from recovered patients –  they then use these antibodies like they were their own, instead of making them from scratch.