Rescue workers at Wuhan hospital sacrifice throughout Spring Festival to help infected people

A patient arrives at Wuhan No 4 Hospital with a relative and medical rescue team members' help on Jan 26. (YUAN ZHENG AND GAO XING / FOR CHINA DAILY)

At Wuhan No 4 Hospital, Hubei province, two medical staff on the front line of the battle against the coronavirus worked nonstop during Spring Festival to save the lives of infected patients.

Nurse Zhang Jing, 40, and the ambulance driver, surnamed Hu, are members of a 120 First Aid team, who worked 12 hours without rest from 8 am till 8 pm on Jan 26.Whenever a 120 call was made for help, the rescue team drove to a patient's home through the empty streets of Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, with little regard for their personal safety.

Members of a 120 First Aid team disinfect their ambulance and themselves after a full day's work at a disinfection station of Wuhan Urgent-care Center in Hubei province, on Jan 26. (YUAN ZHENG AND GAO XING / FOR CHINA DAILY)

Members of a 120 First Aid team work on the streets of Wuhan. (YUAN ZHENG AND GAO XING / FOR CHINA DAILY)

A 120 First Aid team member lets his colleague sterilize his goggles with medical alcohol so that he could reuse them. (YUAN ZHENG AND GAO XING / FOR CHINA DAILY)

Zhang Jing puts her mobile phone inside a disposable glove to prevent infection. (YUAN ZHENG AND GAO XING / FOR CHINA DAILY)

Zhang, who has two mobile phones, makes at least 300 phone calls a day to arrange for patients to come to the hospital. The two mobiles always run out of power after a whole day's work. She hardly had any time to reply to WeChat messages from her daughter on Jan 24, the eve of Spring Festival, and simply told her she was fine and extremely busy.

Zhang has been a nurse for 20 years and was involved in rescue work during the SARS outbreak in 2003 and the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008.

Members of a 120 First Aid team disinfect each other at a disinfection station of the Wuhan Urgent-care Center. (YUAN ZHENG AND GAO XING / FOR CHINA DAILY)

Zhang (left) and Hu have their dinner in the hospital after a busy working day. (YUAN ZHENG AND GAO XING / FOR CHINA DAILY)

The ambulance runs on the empty Yingwuzhou Yangtze River Bridge on Jan 26. (YUAN ZHENG AND GAO XING / FOR CHINA DAILY)

The goggles Hu wears are misted up in the cold weather. (YUAN ZHENG AND GAO XING / FOR CHINA DAILY)

The two dispose of used protective gear. (YUAN ZHENG AND GAO XING / FOR CHINA DAILY)

Zhang's daughter sends a WeChat message to show her love to her mother on the eve of the Spring Festival. (YUAN ZHENG AND GAO XING / FOR CHINA DAILY)