TCM doctor fights COVID-19 at makeshift hospitals

Ti Gong

Zhao Qing, deputy Party secretary of Shanghai Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, prefers to refer to COVID-19 patients in makeshift hospitals as "citizens who test positive."

"They are not patients, but citizens adhering to the central quarantine policy," Zhao explained.

Zhao has been working tirelessly at two hospitals for the past month and a half, treating patients with traditional Chinese medicines, acupuncture and exercises.

The 55-year-old senior surgeon led a medical team of 280 doctors and nurses from an integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine hospital to manage the makeshift hospitals at the Shanghai New International Expo Center in the Pudong New Area and a renovated factory building in Hongkou District.

He volunteered to lead the medical team fighting the pandemic on the front lines during the peak of the COVID-19 resurgence in Shanghai.

He was nicknamed "Uncle Zhao" by medics and patients because he was the oldest member of the medical team.

"I'm just keeping the promise I made when I chose this profession," Zhao explained. "Such experiences make my life complete."

TCM has been actively used in the fight against COVID-19. In 2008 he led the Shanghai TCM team that was rushed to Wenchuan in southwest Sichuan Province following a devastating earthquake.

TCM was used to treat severe skin wounds prior to orthopedic surgery. Many earthquake victims' limbs were saved thanks to traditional treatment methods.

TCM prescriptions, acupuncture and exercises were also effective against the infection during this year's COVID-19 resurgence in Shanghai.

COVID-19 patients took customized TCM soups and practiced Yijinjing, or China's ancient tendon-muscle strengthening exercises, every day at the makeshift hospitals.

These treatments significantly reduced the positive period for the majority of asymptomatic cases and effectively relieved the symptoms of normal cases. Some patients' headaches and insomnia were also relieved by acupuncturists.

For nearly a month, a young asymptomatic patient tested positive on multiple occasions. Zhou requested a TCM recipe from an experienced doctor at the hospital, and he was cured within a week.

In another case, an acupuncture treatment relieved a middle-aged woman's migraine.

"I was feeling better even before I was sent to the makeshift hospital," she explained.

Zhao has studied how TCM treatment can significantly alleviate the "makeshift syndrome," which includes insomnia, digestive disorders and anxiety in many patients at makeshift hospitals.

Ti Gong

Running and managing the makeshift hospitals every day was a challenging task for Zhao.

Zhao and his team members took control of the Shanghai New International Expo Center on April 8, at the height of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The team spent three days transforming the site of major exhibitions into a makeshift medical center.

On the first day, Zhao worked overnight to direct arriving patients to their beds and provide health advice.

He wore a winter jacket instead of the hazmat suit to calm the patients and the young medics who were overly cautious about the coronavirus.

"Omicron is not frightening if you learn its features," Zhao said. "There is a low rate of infection with proper protection and the right process to remove the clothes," he added.

He claimed that some young doctors overprotected themselves, which increased the risk of infection, especially when taking them off.

The makeshift hospital housed approximately 1,500 COVID-19 patients, with Shanghai reporting over 20,000 new infections every day.

Zhao later handed over control of the makeshift hospital to a team from Tianjin municipality in north China, leaving enough TCM herbs and prescriptions behind.

He then moved to Hongkou's district-level makeshift hospital, which used to be a leather factory and was in poor condition.

When Zhao arrived, the pipes were broken and the roofs were leaking. There was no running water, no electricity and no ventilation.

Zhao assigned 16 medics to supervise the wearing and removal of protective gear to prevent cross-infection among patients and doctors in such a squalid environment.

He also encouraged infected plumbers to volunteer and help keep the power and water supplies running smoothly. The plumbers were delighted to assist because they were all asymptomatic.

The makeshift hospital was soon up and running, thanks to logistical assistance from the district government and a volunteer team.

Zhao instructed his staff to refer to patients by their names rather than their bed numbers to calm them down.

To make the patients "feel at home," he named the different levels and sections after traditional shikumen, or stone-gate neighborhoods in Hongkou.

The hot water room, for example, was named Laohu Zao, or Tiger Stove, after the Shanghai water boiler. The wards were named after the famous historical lane-style compounds: Liangcheng Li, Guangzhong Fang and Tongle Fang.

The makeshift hospital on Jinian Road was closed in mid-May as the city's resurgence faded.

"Some of the discharged patients said everything was fine except for the lack of showers," Zhao said. Many of them have stayed in touch with the doctors who taught them the Yijinjing exercise.

Zhao and the majority of the team members will return to Yueyang Hospital after completing the mandatory two-week quarantine. Some of them will work in the hospital's buffer zone, which was set up for patients who did not have negative PCR test results but needed emergency care.

Zhao urged young doctors to continue volunteering at the city's remaining makeshift hospitals and to share their experiences and TCM knowledge.

"It will take some time for the city's pandemic to end. We must continue to carry out our responsibilities," he said.

Ti Gong