Makeshift hospitals turned tide

Decisive treatment, testing also proved vital as Wuhan fought to contain COVID-19 outbreak

Editor's note: This is the second story in a series of three that China Daily will publish to share front-line experts' views on key issues, including the turning point of the battle against COVID-19 in Wuhan, Hubei province, and how China has managed to keep a low death toll.

For many medical workers and residents in Wuhan, Hubei province, memories of the period from late January to mid-February remain terrifying, even though the city has been gradually returning to normal and all COVID-19 patients have been discharged from the city's hospitals.

During those weeks, the virus was spreading rapidly in the city. Medical resources, particularly hospital beds, were too limited to meet the demand, said Zhang Dingyu, president of Jinyintan Hospital－the first hospital designated for COVID-19 patients in Wuhan.

"People in the city were deeply worried that they wouldn't be treated if they fell ill, because of the severe shortage of medical resources," he said in an interview on Thursday.

Fever clinics were packed with people. Many COVID-19 patients with relatively minor symptoms were sent home for isolation because there weren't enough hospital beds－making them sources of community infections.

"People at home tended to ignore signs that their conditions were getting worse, so when they finally came to the hospitals, they were already too ill," Zhang said.

"Many countries are still choosing to send COVID-19 patients home like we did at the early stage of the outbreak, so we see their infections continuing to climb."

It later became clear, Zhang said, that setting up makeshift hospitals by converting large indoor facilities like exhibition halls and stadiums was the turning point in the city's fight against the outbreak.

That not only ensured that all patients could be admitted to proper medical facilities to cut off possible transmission routes, but also helped set people's minds at ease that everyone would be able to receive proper medical treatment, he said.

In Wuhan, the construction of such hospitals started on Feb 3, with the first three being completed in 29 hours. In total, 16 makeshift hospitals with about 14,000 beds were set up. They took in more than 12,000 patients with mild symptoms, accounting for about a quarter of all the 50,333 infected patients in the city, officials said.

The makeshift hospital set up at the Wuhan Living Room Exhibition Center is visible from Jinyintan Hospital. "About 60 patients at the makeshift hospital were transferred to our hospital as soon as their conditions worsened," Zhang said.

"Unlike previous seriously ill patients, those transferred from makeshift hospitals were very calm and recovered sooner, knowing that they were going to get proper support," he said. "Previous patients tended to be more anxious and their condition deteriorated faster."

With the epidemic under control in the city, all makeshift hospitals in Wuhan were closed by March 10.

Li Li, a 38-year-old Wuhan resident, said: "I felt much less worried with the establishment of the makeshift hospitals, particularly after learning about the living conditions and medical care on the news, as I knew we could get proper treatment even if we were infected. It really cheered me up."

Massive, door-to-door screening in communities in Wuhan of those infected or suspected of having been infected also played a key role in slowing the epidemic's progress in China, said Jiao Yahui, who is responsible for medical administration and supervision at the National Health Commission.

On Feb 6, the central work group guiding anti-epidemic efforts in Hubei, headed by Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan, pushed Wuhan's government to ramp up screening. In the city, 6,326 confirmed or suspected patients of COVID-19 were found among the 4.21 million households, officials said.

"By doing so, we could ensure that no patient was left unattended, and sources of infection were isolated," said Jiao, who arrived in Wuhan on Feb 2 and left the city on Sunday. "Also, the decision to lock down residential areas allowed us to carry out thorough screening in communities more effectively and quickly."

All residential areas in Wuhan were closed on Feb 10 to minimize people's movement. On March 18, the city reported zero new confirmed cases for the first time since the outbreak.

Liu Kun in Wuhan contributed to this story.

cuijia@chinadaily.com.cn