Medical workers use cartoons to comfort child patients

Seeing a doctor in protective gear at the isolation ward(隔离区 gélí qū) can be scary, especially for children infected with the coronavirus. Now, the medical staff at Wuhan Children's Hospital have come up with more fun options(选项 xuǎnxiàng) than the average white suit.

Peppa Pig, SpongeBob, Doraemon and Ultraman are some of the iconic cartoon characters that have been drawn(画 huà) on the protective suits(防护服 fánghù fú) to bring some cheer(欢乐 huānlè) to the little patients.

The new suits seem to be working their magic(魔力 mólì) as staff say the little patients have become more cooperative(合作 hézuò) during the treatment(治疗 zhìliáo).

Now, most medical staff members at the isolation ward are using some of their free time to draw cartoon characters or other simple drawings on their protective suits.

Sometimes they just draw the sketches of the characters and bring watercolor pens to let the children color(着色 zhuósè) them.

Head nurse Liu Sijing recalled a moment when a one-year-old patient called a doctor mama after seeing the Peppa Pig drawing on her protective suit.

"One day, a doctor with us went inside the isolation ward with a Peppa Pig drawing on her protective gear. Then, a one-year-old kid who can just talk in simple words grabbed onto her arm calling her mama, and didn't want her to leave," said Liu Sijing.

The children in the hospital contracted the coronavirus from their family members and so they cannot visit them. The health workers are tasked with all the responsibilities of taking care of them.

重点词汇 Key word:

画

    <动词 v.> draw; paint
    E.g. Tā àihào tán jítā hé huà sùmiáo.
    她爱好弹吉他和画素描。
    Her hobbies were playing the guitar and sketching.

    <名词 n.> drawing; painting; picture
    E.g. Māma bǎ huà guà zài le qiáng shang.
    妈妈把画挂在了墙上。
    Mamma fastened the picture on the wall.

    <名词 n.> something decorated with painting or picture
    E.g. Huàláng jǔbàn le yī chǎng Zhōngguó nǚ huàjiā de zuòpǐn zhǎn.
    画廊举办了一场中国女画家的作品展。
    The gallery has mounted an exhibition of art by Chinese women painters.

    <名词 n.> stroke of a Chinese character
    E.g. “rén ”zì yǒu liǎng huà.
    “人”字有两画。
    The character "人" is made up of two stokes.

    <动词 v.> make gesture with one's hands to express something.
    E.g. Nǐ zuìhǎo búyào zhǐshǒu - huàjiǎo.
    你最好不要指手画脚。
    You'd better stop acting as if you were master of the place.