Nurse Obi filled the ward the way the hospital required: bottom row first, closest to the nurses' station, then each row above as beds opened up. By Thursday every row was occupied. Friday morning the lab results came back positive for the newest admissions — the patients in the topmost row, the ones who had arrived most recently and shared the same intake corridor. Their beds were stripped and the row sealed off while the rest of the ward, admitted days earlier through a different entrance, continued their recovery. The quarantine lifted by Monday and the beds filled again.