All designated pandemic hospitals resume normal operations
Shanghai Pudong Hospital is the last designated hospital in the Pudong New Area to resume normal operation.
The last batch of 18 COVID-19 designated hospitals are resuming normal operations this week, Shanghai Health Commission said.
Shanghai Pudong Hospital, the last designated hospital in the Pudong New Area to cease its COVID-19 tasks, reopened its doors for ordinary patients on Thursday.
From April 6 to June 17, the hospital received 4,511 coronavirus patients ranging in ages from newborn babies to centenarians.
A 108-year-old male patient at the hospital set the record for being the oldest patient to recover from a coronavirus infection in the nation.
To ensure safety, the hospital carried out rounds of thorough disinfection before resuming regular operations.
"Preventing infection after serving as a designated hospital is a very delicate process, as we are facing the virus directly. All surface items, central air-conditioning systems and equipment have undergone complete disinfection under the monitoring of hospital infection control staff," said Dr Mao Aihua of the hospital.
To enhance patient convenience, hospital officials said they have renovated the processes of the outpatient and emergency departments.
They have also added one drug prescription section, which allows patients who only need to receive a simple check and get prescribed medicine to fulfill the whole process within a 5-square-meter area instead of traveling between floors and departments.
Shanghai had converted 48 city- and district-level hospitals into designated hospitals during this round of COVID-19 resurgence. They were closed gradually after the pandemic waned.
