This is the gripping story of twin brothers and doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken (Horizon, Operation Ouch, Trust Me I’m a Doctor) as they deal with the professional and personal implications of the Covid-19 pandemic. Dr Chris van Tulleken is an infectious diseases doctor at the world-leading UCL Hospital in London. It's week three of lockdown and he’s been asked to return to the work on the wards for the first time in ten years. As well as treating seriously ill patients, he wants understand what the virus is doing to our bodies and why it’s so difficult to treat. To make things more stressful for Chris, his wife Dinah is seven months pregnant with their second child. With Chris returning to the wards, Dinah asks ‘how worried should I be?’ Chris explains that although she’s no more likely to get infected than anyone else, it can be particularly difficult to treat pregnant women as they can’t have artificial support for their lungs which is one of the main ways that Covid patients can be helped. Chris gets to work treating patients on the infectious disease wards. He quickly learns just how unpredictable the virus can be when he meets 80-year-old retired taxi driver Richard who was given end of life palliative care only to turn a corner and make a dramatic recovery. It becomes clear that what Chris had initially thought of as a virus that causes a very nasty cold is actually far more malign. Chris hears how the virus can damage the kidneys, the heart and create unpredictable immune system responses. Chris’s twin brother, Dr Xand van Tulleken, is a specialist in public health. Xand has worked in medical emergencies around the world, but never so close to home. He wants to examine the impact Covid-19 is having outside our hospitals – on the UK’s most vulnerable - and lend a hand where he can. Xand contracted Covid back in March and it has left him tired and sluggish. He’s also developed an irregular heart beat which he suspects is part of the after
