"The patient was tested on March 9 and the result came back two days later. Before him, the hospital had no testing right, which meant that although we have a large laboratory, the hospital had to apply to the New York State Department of Health if we wanted to test a suspected case. As a result, some died in early March before they could be tested."

On March 18, seeing so many patients around her gave Zhang a mental jolt, and her first reaction was to reach out for a mask. "The medical assistants at our front desk were still wearing loose-fitting surgical masks that can do nothing to block the tiny particles carrying coronavirus. At my suggestion they borrowed a box of N95 from a gastrologist upstairs. I put on the mask and gown, took a picture of myself and used it as my WeChat avatar, which it still is."

Pang says the first day that doctors were required to wear masks in all areas of her hospital was March 13, one day before she became ill.

"Exactly a week earlier we wore masks only in emergency rooms."

Between her own recovery in early April and mid-May, when daily death numbers consistently fell in New York, Pang spent most of her day with patients, some in intensive care.

"People straddling the line between life and death are clinging on desperately to hope, and need mental support as much as they do air. We were all out there for them-the hospital's entire team of psychiatrists."

Every night she was at home counseling and comforting resident doctors in her own hospital, sometimes late into the night.

"They are mostly in their late 20s and early 30s and haven't seen the worst of times. Some cried as we talked. I understand every bit of their fear and their emotions, which only makes me want to salute their heroism more.

"No matter what we have been through, when it's time to say goodbye for one last time we will say it with the patient's hand in our hands."