Coronavirus: A Battle Against Epidemic

China now is making all-out efforts to control the novel coronavirus outbreak.

With many people in China unable go outside owing to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus epidemic, “home marathons” have become a new option for many Chinese runners in this period.

(Photo: AP)

Chinese health authorities announced that 28,018 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) had been reported on the Chinese mainland by the end of 5 February, 2020.

By the same time, the death toll from the pneumonia caused by the coronavirus had reached 811 across the mainland, and a total of 1,153 infected patients had been cured and released from hospital.

In Hubei Province, 19,665 confirmed cases had been reported as of 5 February, including 10,117 in Wuhan, the capital city of the province, where the outbreak was first reported.

Since the epidemic broke out in Wuhan in December 2019, it has affected all provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions on the Chinese mainland

24 January, 2020: Medical workers pose for a group photo in the ICU of Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University in Wuhan, Hubei Province.(Photo: Xiong Qi/Xinhua)

China has full confidence and capability to win the battle against the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on 28 January, when he met with Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization in Beijing.

“The Chinese people right now are faced with a very serious battle. And for the Chinese government, this is something that we take very seriously, because in our view, nothing matters more than people’s safety and health,”

Chinese President Xi Jinping

China Won’t Spare Any Effort in the Epidemic Prevention

On 27 January, entrusted by President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang inspected efforts to prevent and control the novel coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan.

In Wuhan, Li required local authorities to spare no effort in the epidemic prevention and control work, which is of paramount importance, reducing both the incidence rate and mortality rate to safeguard people’s lives and health.

Li called for speeding up the construction of Huoshenshan Hospital, a makeshift hospital for treating patients infected with the novel coronavirus, during his visit to the construction site.

He also assured people in a local supermarket that the country, with its ample reserves and measures, will ensure adequate market supply and stable prices in Wuhan.

Intensified measures have been taken by authorities at different levels around China to cope with the spread of the disease.

Wuhan has been cut off from the rest of China, with limited transport restriction measures taken in some other cities.

Schools across the country will postpone the new semester following an announcement from the central government.

27 January, 2020: Members of the medical team of the Second Military Medical University receive praise from a patient infected with the novel coronavirus at Hankou Hospital in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province. The medical team from the Second Military Medical University helps Hankou Hospital solve problems such as serious shortage of medical staff amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.(Photo: Xinhua)

27 January, 2020: A security staff member checks passengers’ body temperatures through an infrared body temperature monitoring system at Sanya Phoenix International Airport in Sanya, Hainan Province. According to the airport authority, all passengers arriving at or leaving the airport are required to accept temperature checks.(Photo: Xinhua)

As of 29 January, a total of 6,097 medical workers from 26 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, as well as three military hospitals, had been sent to Hubei Province, the epicenter of the outbreak, to help combat the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak.

They have been dispatched to designated hospitals to join the medical work.

The first batch of medical staff was sent from Shanghai and Guangdong Province on 24 January.

The medical workers are specialized in different areas, including respiratory and infectious diseases, and many of them are very experienced in similar emergency relief operations and have taken part in fighting the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak in 2003 or helped control the Ebola outbreak in Africa.

26 January, 2020: Medical workers gather in Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi Province, before leaving for Wuhan of Hubei Province, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak. A team comprised of members from 51 medical institutions in Shaanxi left Xi’an for Wuhan to aid the coronavirus control efforts there. (Photo: Li Yibo/Xinhua)

Authorities in Wuhan are also intensifying efforts to increase the number of beds to cope with the increasing number of patients, including building two new hospitals.

The two makeshift hospitals, Huoshenshan and Leishenshan, would provide a total of 2,300 additional beds. Huoshenshan Hospital, built in just 10 days, was formally delivered to military medics on 2 February and started to treat infected patients on 4 February.

Construction of Leishenshan Hospital was also completed on 6 February. Besides, according to a press conference held by China’s National Health Commission on 28 January, another 14 hospitals in Wuhan would reserve an additional 6,000 beds for patients with the virus, which would result in more than 10,000 beds available in the city for such patients.

An aerial photo shows the construction site of Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province. The hospital is for treating patients infected with the novel coronavirus. (Photo: Wang He)

(This content is provided by Beijing-based China Pictorial )