Nurse Lee Su-ryun at Sahmyook Medical Center in Seoul plays the Korean card game hwatu (Go-stop) with a 93-year-old Alzheimer's patient who tested positive for COVID-19. (Korean Nurses Association)

By Yoon Hee Young

A viral photo of a nurse in a hazmat suit playing the Korean card game hwatu (Go-stop) with a 90-something Alzheimer's patient quarantined inside a COVID-19 negative pressure module has delivered a heartwarming scene of love online.

The objective of hwatu is to match cards depicting flowers and animals representing each month of the year.

The Korean Nurses Association on Aug. 3 released the photo of the elderly woman surnamed Park, 93, and Lee Su-ryun, 29, a nurse at Sahmyook Medical Center in Seoul, that will be shown at an exhibition of memoirs and photos from nurse workplaces.

Last year on Aug. 1, Park was confirmed to have COVID-19 at her nursing home and sent to a negative pressure module at Sahmyook, which is exclusively for COVID-19 patients in Seoul's Dongdaemun-gu District. Also stricken with Alzheimer's, the patient suffered from severe symptoms including high fever and fatigue.

For the elderly suffering from the disease and loneliness in the module, nurse Yang So-yeon, who is experienced in caring for those in rehabilitation therapy, came up with the idea of having Alzheimer's patients do art therapy, including card matching through hwatu and painting with colored pencils.

Lee said, "Nurses are the only people who quarantined patients can talk to," adding, "The game was to help her alleviate her constant drowsiness and regain her energy."

Ten nurses including Lee took turns to keep Park company through conducting art therapy and arranging video calls with the patient's family.

Park later tested negative for the coronavirus and was discharged after 15 days.

Having spent seven years as a nurse, Lee said, "I'm also afraid of getting infected while caring for COVID-19 patients," adding, "But all I can do is to consider patient safety and ensure that they're treated well to get discharged soon."

Released on Twitter, the photo has been retweeted over 10,000 times and gone viral on online communities and social media. 

Rep. Sim Sang-jung of the minor opposition Justice Party on Aug. 2 shared the photo on her Twitter account, saying, "I feel in awe over seeing a medical worker sitting up straight in her hazmat suit and calmly gazing at the elderly woman."

hyyoon@korea.kr