"A relative says the mom of a classmate has nowhere to receive dialysis. He asked me whether our place can still take her, and I told him we are full, too."

When I met Feng, she was waiting for a family member who was receiving treatment in one of the makeshift dialysis rooms in Wuhan No.4 Hospital. "We also have problems getting medication. A lot of kidney patients have high blood pressure. Some even have heart failure. Their medication cannot stop. We hope the government can do something about it."

Nearly a month after Wuhan was sealed, the fight against the epidemic has disrupted the lives of people in the city in many ways.

"For this special group of people, cutting dialysis treatment means they cannot live," said Dong Junwu, director of Wuhan No.4 hospital's nephrology division, adding that he has been suggesting the district and municipal health authorities that kidney patients deserve special attention, for the last one month.

"Our original dialysis rooms were on the seventh floor," Dong pointed towards a building that has now been quarantined and designated to receive and treat coronavirus patients. "The announcement was made on January 21. The building closed on January 23. So within 48 hours, we hastily moved all the dialysis equipment out."

Wuhan No.4 Hospital (West Campus) was visited regularly by 320 kidney patients to receive dialysis treatment. It now has 360, the extra being patients who have been transferred from other hospitals.

Some hospitals have to stop providing dialysis treatment because they cannot ensure a clean environment for kidney patients once they start receiving those infected with the novel coronavirus, said Dong. "We try our best to help each other."

Dong added that kidney patients' life has also become more difficult with the closure of public transport. "Most of them have to walk here now," he said.