ICU doctors in China bear the brunt as virus causes rapid deterioration in patients

Medical staff work in the isolated intensive care unit in a hospital in Wuhan on Feb 6, 2020. - EPA

WUHAN (Caixin Global): It took only a few minutes for Dr Peng Zhiyong to make a decision that he knew could be highly risky - admitting a patient diagnosed with "unknown viral pneumonia".

That was on Jan 6. Dr Peng, the director of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the South Central Hospital of Wuhan University, signed off on accepting the patient into his department.