‘Too early’ for optimism despite drop in new cases
► Cities around Wuhan take proactive measures
B Z
Daily reports of confirmed novel co coronavirus pneumonia cases in Hubei, the epicenter of the outbreak, plunged on Thursday following a dramatic surge the previous day. Experts believe the shift was due to th the local government’s adoption of a new method to diagnose the COVID-19, which allowed hospitals to cl clear a backlog of suspected cases.
But the drop does not indicate an op optimistic situation in Hubei. Hubei st still faces critical challenges with a la large number of patients and pressu sure to prevent and control the virus, ex experts said.
Hubei reported 4,823 newly co confirmed COVID-19 cases on Thursday, including 3,095 clinically diagnosed cases, a sudden plunge fr from the previous day’s total of 14 14,840 new cases including 13,332 cl clinically diagnosed cases.
A suspected case will be clinically diagnosed as long as the patient sh shows pulmonary lesions typical of COVID-19 following a CT scan, ev even if they have not been given a nucleic acid test. Hubei on Wednesday began to include the number of cl clinically diagnosed cases in its daily u updated report.
PPossible surge
Yang Gonghuan, a former vice d director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, to told the Global Times that Wednesday saw hospitals clear a backlog of su suspected cases, and that Thursday’s p plunge showed cases were being cl cleared. The number of confirmed ca cases in Hubei will not remain at p previous levels of around 1,000 to 2,000, as the local government has increased health screenings of local residents.
Seeing the plunge in Hubei’s daily reports, some netizens were excited, commenting that victory over the virus is no longer distant.
However, Yang said it is way too early to celebrate or become too optimistic as the epicenter’s total number of patients has not significantly dropped and the prevention and control situation remains serious.
“Hubei may see more confirmed cases as many cities around Wuhan that also face a severe epidemic situation would include clinically diagnosed cases,” Yang Zhanqiu, deputy director of the pathogen biology department at Wuhan University, told the Global Times.
For example, Huanggang and Xiaogan, two cities located less than 100 kilometers away from Wuhan, have a large number of residents working in Wuhan, Yang noted.
Xianning reported 200 new confirmed cases, Huanggang 162 and Xiaogan 135 on Thursday, as the top three in new confirmed cases in Hubei outside Wuhan.
The Xiaogan government announced on Thursday that the city would take close-off managements on all residential communities. Huanggang also announced similar measures on Thursday.
Pressure on medical staff
Although thousands of medical staff across China have come to support Wuhan and Hubei, there may still be a shortage of doctors especially on respiratory medicine and critical care medicine, Yang said, noting that more confirmed cases being taken in hospitals in Wuhan and Hubei may increase pressure on medical staff battling the virus on the frontline.
A doctor surnamed Yuan in Huangmei county said that he hasn’t gone back home for almost a month. According to Yuan, his hospital has extended the opening time for the fever clinic to 24/7. A majority of the hospital personnel were required to be on duty in this clinic. “As the number of suspected infection cases surges every day, we now face a huge gap in medical supplies. Sometimes we use garbage bags to wrap our boots,” said Yuan.
The infection of medical staff has also drawn public attention. Zeng Yixin, deputy director of the National Health Commission (NHC), told a press conference on Friday that as of Tuesday midnight, there were 1,716 medical staff infected with COVID-19, accounting for 3.8 percent of confirmed cases nationwide. Six of them have died. Hubei had 1,502 medical staff infected, and Wuhan had 1,102.
Zeng noted on Friday that authorities have asked governments on all levels to strengthen protection of medical staff, requiring medical staff in Hubei to change shifts to rest.
There was also some encouraging news on the current epidemic situation in China on Friday. Outside Hubei, 267 new confirmed cases were reported on Thursday while it was 890 on February 3, a decline in 10 consecutive days.