ROME (AsiaNews): The 98-year-old Bishop Joseph Zhu Baoyu of Nanyang, Henan province, who was diagnosed with the Covid-19 coronavirus on February 3, became the oldest patient to date to have recovered the virus when he first tested negative on February 12, then was declared no longer infected on February 14.
Bishop Zhu was treated at the central hospital in Nanyang and, in addition to the virus, suffered from other illnesses such as arrhythmia and pleural effusion. He was able to recover thanks to a thoracic drainage catheter. He has become a cause celebre with the People’s Daily dedicating and article and video to him.
Doctors and epidemiologists had said that Covid-19 can be fatal for older people and for patients who are suffering from underlying illnesses.
Father Sergio Ticozzi of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, who has known Bishop Zhu personally for over 50 years remarked, “The news of Monsignor Giuseppe Zhu Baoyu’s recovery from the coronavirus was a source of joy to me. When I met the bishop two years ago, he was in a wheelchair and lived in the convent of the diocesan nuns. At first glance he didn’t recognise me but when a nun told him my name, he smiled at me and greeted me ‘My old friend.’ It was a moving meeting.”
Father Ticozzi said, “I rejoice in his recovery and pray to the Lord to bless him and keep him healthy for a long time.”
The Diocese of Nanyang has around 20,000 Catholics, about 20 priests and hundreds of nuns from the Congregation of St. Joseph.
Despite his age, Bishop Zhu is recognised by the government as the bishop of the diocese and, only a year ago, Beijing recognised Bishop Peter Jin Lugang as coadjutor bishop. The Holy See, however, recognises Bishop Jin as bishop and Bishop Zhu as the retired bishop.
