A GWENT doctor who had the coronavirus and warned that it can “kill any of us” has returned to the Royal Gwent – just as the hospital breaches its intensive care capacity.

Dr David Hepburn shared a video of himself at home recovering from covid-19 symptoms, reaching thousands, and reiterating the need to stay at home.  

"I can’t emphasise to you [enough] how sick this can make you," he said.

He described “a week of just feeling absolutely terrible – aching muscles, aching bones, unable to get out of bed and sleeping 16-18 hours a day.”

And in an exclusive interview with the Argus, the intensive care consultant said the disease can spread "like wildfire" and has the potential to kill anyone who catches it, even if they are young and healthy.

"Some of them (the patients) are younger than I am, and they’re certainly not the frail, elderly people that some of us were led to believe we’d be seeing – they’re young, they’re fit, and they have young families, as do I."

Now, after recovering from the disease, Dr Hepburn has launched himself back into caring for Gwent’s sickest patients.

In a video shared on the Aneurin University Health Board's social media, the doctor said: “Great to be back at work, working with all these lovely people.

“It is great to feel better.”

But he warned of a “very busy few months”.

“At the minute we have breached our capacity at intensive care so we have got over 16 patients now in intensive care.

“Our normal capacity would be 13 ventilated patients.

“We have gone into the operating theatres now, so we have another three ventilator patients in the operating theatre, so I am going to put my visor and see if I can help.”

Watch his video message below

It comes as Gwent saw 91 new cases of the coronavirus yesterday and 29 more people died after testing positive, taking the total to 98.

Read more: Coronavirus: Petrol stations ‘will be forced to close' due to impact of Covid-19

Read more: NatWest shares five coronavirus scams to be aware of and warn others about

Read more: What can I do if I see lockdown rules being broken in Wales?

Last night, The British Medical Assocation (BMA), warned coronavirus patients could have their treatment withdrawn and offered to others who are more likely to survive.

The BMA's latest ethics advice said health professionals could be forced to make “grave decisions” should hospitals become overwhelmed with patients.

Watch Dr Hepburn's initial public video message below

The document warns that decisions around rationing scarce resources, such as ventilators, could determine whether large numbers of patients will receive life-saving treatment or not.