Foreign doctors join fight against epidemic
Nurses at Jiahui International Hospital.
While not a designated hospital for coronavirus quarantine and treatment, the foreign-funded Jiahui International Hospital, however, has taken every precaution against the epidemic and formed a special medical response team.
Led by infectious disease specialist David Krason and critical care medicine expert Young Ahn, the team consists of more than 20 medical workers, including 15 foreigners, some of whom joined the fight against SARS in 2003.
Now, the team provides professional guidance to medical staff on prevention and control of the coronavirus, including helping nurses to identify people with symptoms.
Jiahui hopes to relieve the city’s medical burden and join the ongoing battle against the novel coronavirus, said John Hsiang, chief medical officer at Jiahui Health.
“The 2019-nCoV is impressive in its ability to spread quickly. As of February 9, the number of deaths surpassed those from SARS. While the infection is fatal to a small percentage of people, it appears many have only mild illness,” Krason said.
The best treatment is preventing infection, as there are no proven medications against the new virus, Krason said.
Krason also gave some tips which can greatly decrease the risk of acquiring the virus. “A mask is a good idea if you are in a crowded public place such as a train, bus or airplane. And perhaps most importantly, wash your hands with soap and water before touching your eyes, nose or mouth and before you eat,” he said.
“I have a cautious and reserved outlook,” said Ahn, “but I am not panicked when it comes to the coronavirus. There is a lot to be determined about the actual virus and its final impact, and there is harm in hysteria. I am optimistic about the continued improvements to systems, technology, and healthcare we learn from this, because it will happen again somewhere in the world. Most importantly, I am optimistic in the resilience of our communities.”
Two doctors at work at Jiahui International Hospital.
Nowadays, people are discouraged from going to hospitals, which are under high risk of cross-infection. On January 30, Jiahui launched free online bilingual consultations.
People can access the services via the hospital’s official WeChat to obtain information related to the novel coronavirus pneumonia and pose questions to doctors on topics including pediatrics, otorhinolaryngology and internal medicine.
So far, nearly 2,000 people have used the services, and 20 percent of them are foreigners.
Many people have also come to seek psychological assistance.
“For foreigners, the major problem is panic caused by the lack of adequate or proper information,” said the hospital’s psychologist Cheng Qi. “Due to issues over language, they don’t understand China’s efforts against the epidemic.”
Cheng is also a volunteer for Beijing Normal University’s psychological assistance hotline.
“Many people call to seek help when they develop sleeping problems, mental stress and heart palpitations as they fear they are infected. Also, many who have touched patients are under great mental distress. Though I just answer their phone calls, I can feel their nervousness and worries,” Cheng said.
Like Cheng, many doctors in Jiahui have joined in the fight in their own way. Orthopedic surgeon Xia Tian is one of them.
“We orthopedic surgeons feel that we want to do something but we don’t know what to do,” Xia said.
“At first I saw many people buying N95 masks but they didn’t wear them properly. So I made a video telling people how to use masks in the right way,” he said. Since then, he's shared other information on protective measures and debunked common misconceptions.
“Some of my posts on Weibo have been viewed millions of times. It’s meaningful to help others in such a way,” he said.
Jiahui International Hospital has formed a special medical response team.
