Doctors 'should have been more aggressive' in coronavirus treatment

Chinese doctors admit they should have been ‘more aggressive’ in treating suspected coronavirus patients as officials reveal Wuhan built 102 dedicated hospitals within a month to fight the epidemic

• Professor Du Bin, a leading Chinese coronavirus expert, made the revelation
• He confessed ICU staff should have worked together in designated hospitals 
• Such measures could have helped patients recover more quickly, he admitted
• Beijing claimed Wuhan built 102 dedicated hospitals in the space of a month
• More than 3,000 medical workers have been infected with coronavirus in Hubei 

A leading coronavirus expert from China has admitted that doctors should have used ‘more aggressive’ treatment on suspected patients after reviewing the outbreak in Wuhan.

Professor Du Bin, an expert from Beijing, also confessed that he should have pushed the government harder to allow ICU staff to work together in designated coronavirus hospitals to cope with the surging number of critically ill patients.

He claimed such measures could have helped sufferers recover more rapidly.

Prof Du’s remarks come as a senior Beijing official said Wuhan built 102 dedicated coronavirus hospitals in the space of a month to fight the fast-spreading infection. 

Professor Du Bin, a member of Beijing’s expert team, confessed that ICU staff should have worked together in designated coronavirus hospitals to cope with the surging number of critically ill patients. The picture shows a nurse taking care of a patient in an ICU ward at a hospital designated for COVID-19 patients in Wuhan, China’s Hubei province, on February 28

Prof Du’s remarks come as a senior Beijing official said Wuhan built 102 dedicated coronavirus hospitals in the space of a month to fight the fast-spreading infection. The picture shows medical personnel working in the ICU of a hospital in Wuhan, Hubei province, on February 24

Prof Du (pictured), director of the surgical ICU at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, made the comments in Wuhan after being asked what lessons medics had learned from the outbreak

Prof Du, director of the surgical ICU at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, made the comments in Wuhan after being asked what lessons Chinese medics had learned from the coronavirus epidemic.

At a press conference on Wednesday, he said: ‘If I could have the chance to go back, I would say I would try a more aggressive way in [using] invasive mechanical ventilation in all patients with clinical deterioration in terms of the respiratory failure or hypoxemia.

‘And in addition, I would try a more aggressive way to propose my suggestion to the local and national healthcare authorities in order to convene all my ICU colleagues including doctors and nurses to work together in some designated hospitals to establish an intensive care unit to cope with the critical care surge or the surge in critically ill patients.

‘And I do believe such kind of measure or approach can help our patients, especially those critically ill patients, to recover more rapidly.’

Hubei reported no new daily coronavirus cases outside of Wuhan for the first time on Friday. Pictured above, medical workers in protective suits distribute meals to coronavirus patients being treated at a makeshift hospital converted from a sports hall in Wuhan on March 2

The picture shows medical staff members waving to a recovered patient at Leishenshan Hospital, an emergency facility built in 12 days in Wuhan to treat patients, on March 1

‘I would try a more aggressive way to propose my suggestion to the local and national healthcare authorities in order to convene all my ICU colleagues including doctors and nurses to work together in some designated hospitals…’ Prof Du said at a press conference this week

Prof Du arrived in Wuhan on January 18 to help curb the outbreak.

He also stressed that the longest incubation period for the disease was 14 days. He had been asked about a patient in China’s Shennongjia who reportedly got diagnosed 27 days after being exposed to the virus.

He said: ‘From most of the publications right now, we understand that the median incubation period is five to seven days, with the longest incubation period as 14 days. There is no data showing that even a longer incubation period ever existed.

Globally, at least 3,383 people have died and more than 98,700 have contracted the infection

The aerial picture taken on February 2 shows Huoshenshan Hospital, the first dedicated coronavirus hospital built in Wuhan, upon its completion 10 days after ground was broken

Medics are pictured transferring patients to Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan on February 4

The expert acknowledged that there had been cases of former patients found to still have the virus after being discharged.

‘We know that these cases exist in Hubei, [and] in Wuhan as well. But currently, we have no idea how many of them [exist].

‘And more importantly, according to the current publication and current research results, there is no evidence that these patients… have the ability to transmit the virus to other people or their close contacts.’

A former coronavirus patient died five days after he was declared recovered from the disease by a Chinese hospital, media reported.

The 36-year-old man, Li Liang, died on Monday during post-recovery quarantine in Wuhan, Hubei Province of central China, according to The Paper.

China’s Vice Premier last month ordered Wuhan officials to put all confirmed and suspected coronavirus patients as well as their close contacts and those with fever in hospitals and quarantine camps. Pictured, people wearing protective face masks covers themselves with large plastic bags to prevent the virus outside the Shanghai Railway Station on Sunday

A woman checks her son’s forehead on January 27 as they ride electric bikes in Wuhan

Wuhan locals wear protective mask as they line up to pay in the supermarket on February 12

Originating in Wuhan, the new coronavirus has killed at least 3,042 people and infected more than 80,500 inside China.

Workers in Wuhan, a city of 14 million, built 102 coronavirus hospitals in the space of a month after the epidemic started, according to Ding Xiangyang, deputy secretary-general of China’s State Council.

Speaking at a press conference today, Mr Ding said the facilities included 86 designated hospitals and 16 makeshift ‘fang cang’ hospitals, and together they provided around 60,000 beds to patients. 

More than 3,000 medical workers have been infected with coronavirus while treating patients in Hubei Province, Beijing’s officials revealed.

It is said that 40 per cent of them contracted the disease in hospitals and the rest were infected while carrying out preventative measures in communities.

All of them are said to be from Hubei.

The central government has so far sent more than 40,000 medical workers from around the country to Hubei to help treat coronavirus patients. No of them has been infected, according to officials.

Globally, at least 3,383 people have died and more than 98,700 have contracted the infection.

Hubei reports NO new daily coronavirus cases outside of Wuhan for the first time 

China’s central province of Hubei, excluding the provincial capital Wuhan, reported zero new cases of coronavirus over 24 hours for the first time during the outbreak.

Wuhan, the ground zero of the epidemic, reported 126 new confirmed cases from Thursday.

But there were no new infections in the province apart from those, the National Health Commission said on Friday.

Elsewhere in China, schools in provinces that have reported no new cases for a number of days are starting to set their opening dates.

A leading coronavirus expert in China claimed on Tuesday that the number of daily infections in epicentre Wuhan could drop to zero by the end of March.

Prof Zhang Boli, a member of the expert team appointed by Beijing to handle the health crisis, also believed that life would return to normal in all other provinces in China by the end of April, and in Hubei by the end of May. 

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