Hospitals and medical staff enhance precautions amid COVID-19 control measures
Hospitals in Shanghai have recently seen a large number of patients in emergency rooms.
The Shanghai Health Commission has issued a notice on safeguarding medical staff on the front line of COVID prevention and control to ensure the normal and orderly operation of medical institutions.
The notice proposes strengthening precautions, asking medical institutions at all levels to get equipped with adequate epidemic prevention materials and standardize environmental disinfection in line with potential risks.
It also highlights that institutions should ramp up efforts to protect medical personnel, enhancing preventive intervention.
The notice requires the improvement of working conditions and reasonable arrangements for shift scheduling to avoid overtiredness among medical staff.
It asks hospitals to improve the office and lounge environment for medical staff by equipping them with all necessary office supplies and necessities for relaxation.
It also encourages hospitals to deploy nearby hotels for medical staff to create a good environment in a closed loop for their work and downtime if necessary.
The notice requires hospitals to ensure physical and mental health of medical staff by improving the living services, logistical support and health monitoring for them. These include providing clean, nutritious and convenient dining services, essential drugs for basic diseases and hygiene supplies, as well as free psychological counseling services.
Hospitals are also asked to give out subsidies to staff who are directly involved in the front-line work of COVID-19 prevention and treatment. They will also get priority in professional ranking assessment.
For the personnel with seniors or children in their family, it suggests hospitals reasonably coordinate their shifts, as much as possible supporting them to balance their home and work lives.
Medical staff at a Shanghai hospital take a patient into an emergency rescue room.
Hospitals in Shanghai have recently seen a large number of patients in emergency rooms.
At the Shanghai Fifth People's Hospital, several ambulances were parked in the emergency rescue lane on Christmas Eve, People's Daily reported.
Patients, most of whom were the elderly or children accompanied by their family, lined up in front of the emergency pre-screening table, describing their coronavirus symptoms including fever and sore throat.
Medical staff also came under strong pressure.
"There are nearly 600 staffers in the nursing department, but more than 300 are currently infected," said Sheng Ying, human resources officer from the Nursing Department at Shanghai Fifth People's Hospital.
"In order to ensure the nursing strength of the critical care front line, we've deployed manpower from various departments, with over 60 ward nurses coming to support the emergency department," she said.
Wu Yanhua, a 36-year-old nurse, was busy on the front line of emergency room.
"She has not fully recovered from the coronavirus, still suffering a cough, but she has already returned to work," said Sheng.
"Medical staff are among the first batch to be infected, as they face a higher concentration of patients," said Xu Ke, deputy president of Shanghai Fifth People's Hospital.
"As of December 23, the infection rate of medical and nursing staff in the hospital was 46 percent, and the proportion of those having returned to duty is currently less than 10 percent. Most of the returning medical staff still have some symptoms including sore throat and cough," said Xu.
"But fortunately, the most serious period is almost over."
He suggested if people simply have a fever or muscle aches, they can stay home and first observe their symptoms, with plenty of rest and water, and take some antipyretic medicine for less severe fevers.
When coming to the hospital, patients should avoid IV drips unless really necessary, he said, as "unnecessary IVs leads to a large number of patients crowded together, which would increase cross infection."
Xu said the hospital has established a medical reserve for intensive care, including wards, equipments and personnel, in accordance with the unified deployment of the city and district.
"Based on calculation, we have made preparations according to a certain ratio. There are still some difficulties with medical staff returning to work, but I expect that by the coming week, the situation should be much better," he said.
