China, Zhang Zhang, 25, helplessly watched each family member in turn infected with the corona virus: grandparents, grandmother, mother, aunt and now brother, when all Wuhan hospitals were overcrowded.

Zhang, a perfume-seller with blue-dyed hair, hung a bottle of water infused on a tree branch and sat down next to the large flower tub outside the crowded hospital. Her mother and brother sat by, their shoulders sagging next to the infusion bottle.

Epidemic pneumonia due to a new strain of corona virus (nCoV) is destroying her hometown, Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, China. Her family is no exception. First, her grandmother became infected and then spread it to her grandfather and mother. Zhang and his brother are next. Her family begs to be hospitalized, but the city hospital is now overcrowded and cannot accommodate more patients. On February 1, Zhang's grandfather passed away.

"They told us to wait. But wait until when? We lost a loved one," Yang Ling, Zhang's mother, said, angrily swinging her hand, causing the needle to nearly burst.

Wuhan City, the site of the outbreak of pneumonia, is struggling to control the spread of the corona virus. The government has issued a blockade order but faces challenges due to limited resources. Overcrowded and understaffed, many hospitals have turned over patients like Zhang, leaving them isolated in small apartments and at risk of infecting their loved ones.

The outbreak of corona virus pneumonia has caused more than 900 deaths and more than 40,000 cases of infection in China, of which the city of Wuhan is the most seriously affected when accounting for about three-quarters of the deaths. Faced with the outrage and increasing despair of the people who were unable to prevent the epidemic, city officials today have localized patients with mild symptoms and taken them to a temporary isolation center. However, this solution also poses new challenges for treatment.

The government has turned the stadium and exhibition area into quarantine centers and has pledged to host more than 10,000 patients. The beds are lined up in close proximity, raising fears of cross-infection.

Zhang, who was admitted to an isolation center with her mother on February 6, found it was the only way to avoid infecting her father, the only family member who had not been infected with nCoV.

This isolation center was renovated from an exhibition area so it was very cold, the bathrooms were limited and there was very little privacy. However, the beds here are equipped with quite warm electric cushions, medical staff come to check the body three times a day and give food and medicine for free.

"At least we have caregivers now," Zhang said by phone at the isolation center.

Pandemic pneumonia appeared in Zhang's family during the Chinese New Year, when her 70-year-old grandmother, who was very healthy, suddenly had a fever and cough. When the epidemic spread around the city a few weeks later and even the government admitted it could be passed from person to person, Zhang's family still did not think they were at risk of infection because they were almost indoors. They took her to the clinic and the doctor prescribed some flu medicines and then returned.

The government issued a blockade in the city on January 23, but like many other Wuhan residents, Zhang was not afraid at first. However, her grandmother continued to cough and could not cut the fever.

After that, the condition of Mr. Zhang, who was suffering from lung cancer, became more serious and indispensable for breathing machines, although he had to use oxygen machines only 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes at night. He had a high fever and four days later he could not sleep.

Desperately, Zhang's family pleaded for all they could think of. But the hospital was overcrowded and the emergency team said they needed to find a bed before the ambulance arrived. Zhang looked at her grandfather as if she was raising her from death.

Overnight, her social media account filled with food and travel photos filled with urgent calls. In one last attempt, she called the mayor's hotline, but the head of the city had no solution for her and asked what she planned to do.

"How do you ask an ordinary citizen like me to handle this?", She answered and hung up. That afternoon, her grandfather died at home. Funeral home officials came to take his body because they said he could infect the virus. Her family was not allowed to go along and his body was cremated shortly afterwards.

But they did not have time to grieve because Ms. Zhang's condition quickly deteriorated. They took her to the hospital and the CT doctor said her lungs were white, a sign of acute pneumonia. Later tests showed that she was positive for corona virus. She needed to be hospitalized, a place reserved for patients infected with the virus. The doctor could monitor her vital signs, treat her with antiviral drugs and HIV, and provide breathing apparatus. But the hospitals have no beds.

The doctor then told Zhang and her mother that they were both infected with nCoV. Her younger brother Allen was also positive for the virus. They are all offered to go home.

Zhang's father, 50, is the only person in the family who is not infected. He slept in the living room to isolate himself from the rest. They wore masks all the time, even when they slept, and looked after her, who now almost collapsed on the bed and had difficulty breathing. Zhang believes that her father's infection with the virus is only a matter of time. They no longer have disinfectant solutions and N-95 masks to better protect against viruses.

"Your family lived together, ate and sat down to watch the news together. No matter how hard he tried, he became infected," Zhang said.

Her daily routine is now routine: taking her to the clinic in the middle of the night, when fewer people are waiting in line for a checkup and taking medicine. During the day, she returned to the hospital to line up with her mother and younger brother.

"The media always say that everything is fine, but in reality ordinary people like us are not interested," said Ms. Yang, Zhang's mother. Her indignation was not only due to the government's delayed response to the epidemic but also because they seemed to be denied basic rights. Ms. Yang said the family still doesn't know where Mr. Zhang's ashes are and that there is no time to hold a funeral.

"I cannot even save my living relatives. Now we can only pray to God. It is useless to ask others," Ms. Yang shared.