It will get better, he insisted at the time.
For Wuhan, he believes it has, Yu said last month in a rare conversation with foreign media. But he admitted his own recovery has been longer and tougher than he expected. It wiped him out for three and a half months, he told CBC while sitting in the back room of a Wuhan mah-jong parlour near his hospital. I was very weak after I got sick. It was life-threatening, Yu said. I lost some 15 kilograms [more than 30 pounds].
He also admitted that as a doctor, I learned a lot. For instance, how the long-term impact of COVID-19 on the lungs is much greater than he realized at the time. Even now, I have trouble breathing if I exert myself, he said.