Dr Yale Tung Chen, a Spanish doctor who was forced into isolation after testing positive for the fatal coronavirus is live-tweeting his symptoms on a daily basis. The 35-year-old doctor from Madrid was tested positive for the fatal virus on Sunday.
Apart from updating the netizens about the progress, Dr Chen is also uploading his scans on the social platform. The doctor was working as the emergency physician at Hospital Universitario La Paz in Madrid, where he contracted the virus while treating the COVID-19 positive patients.
After Italy, Spain saw the highest number of coronavirus cases and related deaths in Europe. So far, Spain has more than 3,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and over 84 deaths. More than 1,000 confirmed cases have been reported in Madrid, the Spanish capital.
Chen started #mycoviddiary on Twitter to share the daily updates
The doctor who is under isolation at his home started the hashtag mycoviddiary to share the daily updates with his followers and the medical community across the globe.
Speaking to Vice, the doctor while maintaining that he is part of an online community of doctors who share ultrasound results to enrich their medical findings, said: "We usually share our experiences or cases on Twitter because that's a strong, powerful tool to learn and share with others. So in this case, there was no difference. The only difference was that the patient was me. I had the ultrasound machine and a lot of time in my isolated room. So I decided to make something of that."
The doctor who first fell ill on Friday, last week, posts on his feed a detailed account of his changing medical symptoms along with an ultrasound of his lungs filled with fluids. Apart from sharing his progress, Dr Chen also answers the questions, if any, over his Twitter page.
Doctor shares footage of lungs, symptoms on daily basis
On the tweet marked 'Day 1 after #COVID diagnosis,' Dr Chen wrote, "Sore throat, headache (strong!), Dry cough but not shortness of breath. No lung US abnormalities. Will keep a #POCUS track of my lungs. #coronavirus." He also shared an ultrasound of his lungs.
On second day, he wrote: "Day 2 after #COVID diagnosis. Less sore throat, cough & headache (thank God!), still no shortness of breath or pleuritic chest pain. #POCUS update: small bilateral pleural effusion, thickened pleural line & basal b-lines (plaps). #coronavirus."
On the third day of his isolation, Dr Chen wrote: "Day 3 after #COVID diagnosis. No sore throat/headache. Yesterday was cough day, still no shortness of breath/chest pain. Diarrhea started, lucky cough got better. #POCUS update: similar effusion, seems less thickened pleural line + no b-lines (PLAPS). #mycoviddiary."
On day four, Dr Chen witnessed more cough as he mentioned in his tweet; "Day 4 after #COVID diagnosis. More cough & tiredness (very badly), still no dyspnea/chest pain. #POCUS update: Right side on resolution, Left side a more thickened pleural line + 2 subpleural consolidations. #mycoviddiary."
On the fifth day after his test, he went on to tweet: "Day 5 after #COVID diagnosis. Less cough & tired, still no dyspnea/chest pain. #POCUS update: Effusion resolved, as subpleural consolidations spread bilaterally on both posterior lower lobes. Started on HCQ yesterday. #mycoviddiary."
On being asked about his course of treatment in tackling the deadly virus, Dr Chen said that apart from taking Tylenol and Ibuprofen, he was consuming fruits and vegetables. The novel coronavirus has infected more than 125,000 people around the world and claimed the lives of over 4,500 people around the world in over 100 countries globally.
