Wuhan doctor whose skin turned dark from virus treatment dies

A doctor in Wuhan whose skin turned dark due to COVID-19 treatment passed away at 5:45 am on Tuesday, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Hu Weifeng, a urologist at the Central Hospital of Wuhan, passed away after four months of treatment for COVID-19, Xinhua reported on Tuesday, citing medical workers at the hospital.

Hu and his colleague Yi Fan, a cardiologist, both 42, caught the infection in January while treating patients.

Both doctors' skin turned dark after being brought back from the brink of death in late March, and a video in April showing their dark skin and tough battle against the virus went viral on Chinese social media platforms.

They were admitted to the hospital in late January and was transferred to Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital and put on an ECMO, a life-support device that replaces the function of the heart and lungs by pumping oxygen into the blood outside the body, on Feb 7.

They were later transferred to Tongji Hospital's Zhongfa Xincheng branch on March 3, where a team of medical workers from China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing started to care for them.

Hu's condition improved on March 14 and he was removed from ECMO treatment on March 22. On April 11, Hu had his tracheotomy tube removed and was able to speak normally. He was then transferred to the general ward on April 14.

However, Hu then suffered cerebral hemorrhages on April 22 and May 29.

Yi's condition improved and he was discharged from hospital on May 6.