Makeshift hospitals being phased out as pandemic wanes
A makeshift hospital at the historic Jiangwan Stadium in Yangpu District.
Shanghai will shut down part of the makeshift hospitals program as the city's infections keep decreasing, executive Vice Mayor Wu Qing said on Friday.
Some district-level makeshift hospitals in poor condition and facilities which served as temporary transfer sites will be closed at a faster pace, Wu told the city's daily press briefing.
"The number of COVID-19 patients at city and district-level makeshift hospitals has been reduced to less than half of the peak period," said Wu.
A small number of makeshift hospitals built within local schools will also be removed, followed by strict cleaning, disinfection and safety evaluation. The city's new COVID-19 positive cases will be transferred to city-level makeshift hospitals.
The city had provided 195,000 beds for COVID-19 patients at the temporary facilities, including many repurposed from exhibition centers and stadiums and some newly built facilities.
During the peak period of the coronavirus resurgence, 86,400 patients stayed in the city-level makeshift hospitals and 184,800 in district-level makeshift sites.
A tent makeshift hospital on Shanghai International Circuit in Jiading District.
As of midnight Thursday, the number of patients at city-level makeshift hospitals had fallen to 39,600. There were 76,500 at district-level facilities, according to Wu.
Shanghai's first city-level makeshift hospital adapted from three apartment buildings with 1,900 beds in Jiading District closed down on April 30 after the last batch of 13 fully recovered COVID-19 patients was discharged.
Meanwhile, the number of outpatient and emergency patients at other local hospitals has been increasing rapidly as medical institutes restore normal operations as soon as possible, according to Shanghai Health Commission.
Some 1.14 million patients have visited local hospitals since May 1, a big increase month-on-month, said Zhao Dandan, deputy director of the commission.
Some 33,000 patients received a free online medical consultation between May 1 and 5, yielding nearly 10,000 prescriptions from medical experts.
Inside a makeshift hospital in suburban Fengxian District.
The hospitals have organized a volunteer team of nearly 800 people to transport over 4,000 medicines to needy patients.
Furthermore, additional supermarkets, convenience stores and other businesses have reopened to meet the demands of citizens in the growing precautionary areas, according to the city's commerce commission.
More businesses will be allowed to apply to district governments for work resumption and their staff will be able to return as long as they carry a digital certificate. The returned employees must be under closed-loop management and cannot return to their communities, said Gu Jun, director of the commission.
Local market watchdogs will also enhance inspections and punishment against substandard food gift packs. Those with quality problems should be exchanged for a new batch of quality supplies delivered to citizens.
Quality violators will face severe punishment, such as revoking their licenses or other legal penalties, said Tao Ailian, a senior official of Shanghai Administration for Market Regulation.
Medics from Ruijin Hospital pose after Jiahe Xinyuan makeshift hospital shut on April 30.
