An American World War Two veteran - who survived the Spanish flu pandemic back in 1918 - recently celebrated his 104th birthday days after recovering from the novel coronavirus in hospital, the Independent reports.

Bill Lapschies - who lives in the Edward C Allworth Veterans’ Home in Lebanon Oregon - is now believed to be the oldest known person to have overcome the respiratory disease.

He celebrated his recent birthday (on April 1) with a party which adhered to social distancing guidelines.

Last month, a 103-year-old coronavirus patient recovered from the deadly disease after just six days of treatment in Wuhan:

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On Wednesday, Lapschies' family turned up at his care home with birthday decorations, cake, and signs. Staff at the facility helped the wheelchair-bound COVID-19 survivor outside where he was greeted by his loved ones from a safe distance.

As reported by Oregon Public Broadcasting, the centenarian was asked by his granddaughter Jamie Yutzi how he managed to recover from the deadly virus, to which Lapschies replied, "I don’t know. It just went away. Sit out here and you can get rid of anything."

“This could have easily gone another way,” Mr. Lapschies’s doctor at the care home, Rob Richardson said per Oregon Public Broadcasting. “There’s not a lot of interventions that can be done.”

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If Lapschies had not been staying in a care home, he would have required a ventilator at the hospital, according to Dr. Richardson.

Lapschies, was born in 1916 and so would have survived the Spanish Flu pandemic as a toddler. The Spanish Flu claimed at least 50 million lives.

Asked how it felt to be 104, the veteran replied: "Pretty good. I made it."

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104-year-old World War II veteran celebrates birthday after beating coronavirus