When the 14-day isolation period came to an end last month, Zhang Chunxiang and 14 other colleagues packed their suitcases, made their beds and left their hotel rooms in Wuhan as if they had never come.

"I just don't want to cause trouble for others," said Zhang, 59.

On Jan 28, Zhang learned that her employer was recruiting cleaners for isolation wards at the western district of Wuhan Union Hospital, and she was among the 15 female cleaners who first entered the contaminated areas.

"I'm a cleaner, and I have no worries as my children are all married," she said. "If no one does the cleaning there, the situation will become worse."

She said she was frightened the first time she entered the hot zone but was relieved after seeing doctors from Beijing and Heilongjiang province.

"I thought to myself, they are from out of town and risked their lives to aid us," she said. "What should we Wuhan locals be afraid of?"