Photo: Screeenshot of Yu Changping's Douyin account

Being an infected medical expert of COVID-19 in Central China’s Hubei Province, 52-year-old doctor Yu Changping from Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University unexpectedly became an internet celebrity after his short science popularization videos of the novel coronavirus pneumonia went viral for his humorous, optimistic, cheerful and encouraging attitudes.

Being the associate chief physician of the department of respiratory medicine at Renmin Hospital, Yu was diagnosed with COVID-19 in mid-January when most ordinary people and even doctors had little awareness of the strong infectiousness of the virus and did not take comprehensive protection measures.

“[Being a doctor] I had contact with many patients and had to stay on the frontline, so I knew that the day would come when I would be infected,” said Yu, the first infected member of the Hubei novel coronavirus prevention and control expert team in one of his popular videos which had 3.5 million followers.

“[But] because I have a strong constitution, and I eat well, sleep well, and have a positive mood, my condition stabilized … what a pity if I die since I am so handsome and lovely?” said Yu, who attributed his beating the disease to his optimistic attitudes.

Yu narrated his diagnosis process and the treatment he received to viewers in the videos, expecting more people would have a clear and scientific understanding about the disease and not be panicked over the virus by taking good preventive measures.

“I had a fever of 38.5 C since January 14, but did not have any other symptoms such as a runny nose or cough,” said Yu, who suspected he had just caught a common cold but was soon put into quarantine on January 17 when he diagnosed himself with COVID-19 through his CT image.

Yu led a 30-member team to fight against SARS 17 years ago and no one on his team was infected with the virus at that time. He didn’t expect that he would become the first infected medical person in his department this time.

His condition became critical four days later and he was unable to get out of bed for five consecutive days because of difficulty breathing, but he finally overcame the pneumonia after a 40-day battle. He was discharged from hospital on Monday and entered another 14-day observation quarantine period.

Yu told the Global Times that he has always been an optimistic person and his knowledge and experience about the disease also allowed him to be confident and optimistic. “Most of the patients just have mild symptoms. Many of them develop critical conditions because their treatment is delayed due to a shortage of medical resources,” Yu said.

“I was not scared of the disease during the whole process except during those two days when my condition worsened and I got a bit worried that I could not get over it,” said Yu.

However, after he got better, many of his relatives, friends and former classmates sent him images of their own CT scans asking him about their physical condition as more and more people in Wuhan got infected with the virus. The constant messages disturbed Yu’s treatment and rest, so he thought of popularizing the knowledge of the disease through some courses.

Staying in the hospital bed, he used his mobile phone to record two videos with each lasting 25 minutes. “I did not wash my face so even till today I haven’t dared to watch the videos,” said Yu, whose original intention was to discuss the virus scientifically, but who unexpectedly became popular on the internet because of his humorous language and adorable Wuhan accent.

After he sent the videos to China’s popular short video platform Kuaishou, they cut his complete courses into short videos with each lasting only one or two minutes and were put onto the platform one segment per day.

“I was concerned that such toothpaste-squeezing style of broadcasting would harm the science popularization effect, but the video platform assured me that nobody would even watch the video if they were not cut into small segments,” said Yu, who is now troubled by his new “identity” as an internet celebrity doctor receiving netizens’ frequent greetings. “I am just an ordinary doctor,” Yu stressed.