At 11:00 of March 15, Mr. Yang was discharged from the Chongqing Public Health Medical Center (CQPHMC) on Gele Mountain, Shapingba District. He is the last confirmed COVID-19 case of Changshou District. This also marked Chongqing reduced the number of COVID-19 patients to zero from 576.
24-hour considerate medical care in 35 days moved the patient
Mr. Yang took a group photo with members of the medical group.
Although the sky was gloomy on March 15 in Chongqing, health workers standing in front of the inpatient building of negative pressure wards in CQPHMC were bright with excitement.
51-year-old Mr. Yang was diagnosed with COVID-19 on February 9 in Ba’nan No. 2 People’s Hospital of Chongqing. The next day, he was transferred to CQPHMC. At 11:00 of March 15, Mr. Yang walked out of his ward with health workers towards 11 members of the Chongqing Medical Expert Group waiting outside, who contributed to his cure.
“I feel very excited,” said Mr. Yang seeing these familiar angels in white. The survivor of the 35-day fighting with the disease also expressed his gratitude: “I cannot leave the hospital so soon without your considerate care.” During the hospitalization, Mr. Yang determined to actively cooperate with health workers to defeat the virus, after being touched by their concerted effort. “I’m sorry that my underlying conditions troubled doctors and nurses. But now, I feel much stronger.”
Liu Honglan, Associate Chief Physician and Director of CQPHMC No. 5 Isolation Area, told Mr. Yang everything he needed to be careful of after the discharge, including taking medicine and paying a subsequent visit on time and making sound self-protection, and the patient remembered every word attentively.
Family members also contributed to the 35-day war against the disease. “My mother was extremely worried about me. I want to tell them the good news.” He sent his best wishes before leaving: “I wish you good health and all the best.”
A combination of Traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine for improved immunity
Mr. Yang was not severe when being hospitalized, but considering his underlying conditions, experts made a special cure, which left him in the hospital for 35 days.
Mr. Yang says goodbye to doctors.
The diabetic patient with hypertension had a fever and obvious infiltration in both lungs when being admitted to the hospital. “If we failed to control the blood pressure and blood sugar, his condition might deteriorate.” Director Liu said they treated COVID-19 while paying great attention to stabilize blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
Two days after the hospitalization, the fever was brought down; around five days later, the lungs gradually recovered. However, a new challenge emerged.
At that time, all relevant symptoms had disappeared after one week of treatment and Mr. Yang stopped taking the medicine. Nevertheless, the nucleic acid testing results remained positive for dozens of days. How to remove the virus became an urgent problem the expert group faced.
Chongqing Medical Expert Group against COVID-19 finally combined Traditional Chinese medicine (TMC) and Western medicine to improve immunity. Tao Yang, a member of the expert group and Director of the Department of Spleen and Stomach Diseases of Beibei Traditional Chinese Medical Hospital, said TMC played a vital role in curing Mr. Yang. At the later stage, the therapy incorporated TMC appropriate for the patient’s conditions. One week later, the nucleic acid testing result turned negative for the first time.
Mr. Yang was confirmed “negative” in consecutive two tests, which is the latest requirement for discharge stipulated by the National Health Commission, and left the hospital on March 15.
Wang Daoxin, head of the Chongqing Medical Expert Group, warned that although the city reduced the number of its confirmed COVID-19 cases to zero, it was not the time to let the guard down yet. “People should wear masks, wash hands often and avoid crowds as usual,” Wang said the next step was to watch out for imported cases from foreign countries and clusters of cases brought by work/class resumption in batches. “Our work is far from over and there is still a long way to go.”