Possible first coronavirus patient in world, makes full recovery

One of the first known coronavirus sufferers has been able to return home after recovering from the deadly pathogen.

Chinese seafood merchant Wei Guixian, 57, was discharged from hospital in early January after paying 70,000 yuan (£8,467) in medical bills.

She is now in good health and has returned to her two-bedroom apartment but her daughter, who tested positive for COVID-19 in mid-January, remains in a field hospital.

Ms Wei was first taken ill at the Hua’nan market in Wuhan on December 10 but dismissed the symptoms as the onset of a common cold.

She initially went to a private clinic near her home where she was administered with antibiotics on an intravenous drip after doctors believed she was suffering from bronchitis.

But just days later she was admitted to the respiratory ward at the Xiehe Hospital when she began losing consciousness.

Doctors carried out a serious of tests including a throat swab and endoscopies but the street vendor could not be officially diagnosed.

It took weeks before Ms Wei’s symptoms were connected to those of other cases in the area with many of the sufferers being other market vendors.

Ms Wei was eventually put into quarantine with doctors administering her treatment from behind face masks.

She was eventually able to recover and has since been discharged from hospital.