Hospital Reopens

Over 600 medical workers from 22 Beijing hospitals have been assigned to work at the Xiaotangshan Hospital, which reopened on March 16 to treat patients with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) amid the capital’s mounting pressure to handle imported cases.

On March 16, the hospital tested 35 travelers transferred from the Beijing Capital International Airport, with one person from the United Kingdom testing positive for the virus, according to the Beijing Municipal Health Commission.

The hospital, located in the city’s northern suburb, has more than 1,600 beds after renovation. It accommodates inbound travelers awaiting health screening as well as suspected and confirmed patients with mild symptoms.

It was established in 2003 to treat patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome. Beijing started to renovate the hospital on January 30 as a precaution in the face of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Some 15,000 people worked on the renovation, which was completed on March 15.

Animal testing for recombinant protein-based subunit vaccine is also underway. China is capable of producing high-quality and highpurity proteins for vaccines on a large scale, according to Lei.

For nucleic acid-based vaccines, Lei said China is stepping up studies based on past experience in combating Middle East respiratory syndrome-coronavirus and will speed up tests.

Some universities and colleges have also isolated COVID-19 antibodies from the blood of recovered patients, which will be able to provide three-week-long immunity.