All Shanghai medical teams back home from Wuhan
The last 51 medics from Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital return home on a China Eastern flight on Friday.
Xu Qingbao, a nurse with Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital, can finally marry his fiancée as the last local medics in Wuhan returned home on Friday.
The couple had to suspend their wedding preparations in late February when Xu rushed to the central Chinese city along with his colleagues from the hospital. His parents had to explain to other family members that the wedding had to be postponed.
"Now the happy days will resume and our life will be back on track," Xu said. "I miss my fiancée so much, but I will also miss my patients in Wuhan after returning home."
All Shanghai medical team members have now returned from Wuhan, the former epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in China, as the last group of local medics flew back on Friday.
The 51 members from Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital rushed to Wuhan on February 19 and have been fighting against COVID-19 at the Leishenshan Hospital, the second emergency hospital in Wuhan for coronavirus patients for 52 days.
In the C2 section of the hospital, they cooperated with medics from Shanghai Fifth People's Hospital and received 116 patients, including 47 in serious conditions. All have been discharged upon recovery.
As most other Shanghai medical teams returned home, the remaining local medics also took charge of the hospital's last general critical care unit to treat 34 patients in serious condition. Twenty-nine of them have recovered, while the remaining five were taken over by the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University.
The ward taken charge over by the local team was officially closed at 2:18pm on Thursday.
"The closure of the C2 section means the general intensive care unit of Leishenshan has completed its mission," said Fan Xiaohong, leader of the team. "So has the Shanghai medical team to Wuhan.
"It's a pity that we could not wait to witness the final shutdown of the Leishenshan Hospital," she said.
Shanghai has dispatched a total of 1,649 medics in eight teams to the central Chinese city since January 23, two days ahead of the Spring Festival. All of them have now returned home with no infections.
Xu Qingbao, a nurse with Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital, helps make a video call for one of his patients at the Leishenshan Hospital.
The last returning medical team included 21 doctors and 30 nurses across a variety of specializations. Most of them are under 35 years old.
"I wish everything would be fine for the world, because I don't want to experience such difficult times again — being wrapped in a hazmat suit for over four hours and sweating from head to toe," said Zhu Jiangying, a pediatrician with the hospital.
Xu Qiuting, a kidney internal medicine nurse, worked in the intensive care unit for 31 days at Leishenshan. "The last several days were the most encouraging period for me, because of the visibility of hope and final success," she said.
Fifteen coronavirus patients in serious conditions have been released after full recovery under her treatment and care. Now, she is eager to return home to finish the kindergarten registration for her son.
China Eastern Airlines' charter flight MU9002 carrying the medics took off from Wuhan Tianhe International Airport at 10:53am and landed at the Hongqiao airport in Shanghai around noon.
The local carrier dispatched He Chao, a hero captain who was once granted a “first-class merit” by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, to operate the flight and take back the city heroes.
He successfully defused a crisis in October 2016 and saved hundreds of passengers when the passenger aircraft he piloted nearly crashed into another plane.
"Every pilot should learn from the spirit of these medics," said He. "Our duty is to ensure the safety of the flight, while their duty is to safeguard people's health."
As the major carrier to transport medical teams from across China, China Eastern has operated 230 charter flights and 2,770 commercial flights to take a total of 22,000 doctors and nurses to and from central Hubei Province.
Nationwide, more than 40,000 medical professionals were dispatched to Hubei to fight against the COVID-19 outbreak.
Xu Qiuting, a kidney internal medicine nurse, works in the intensive care unit at the Leishenshan Hospital in Wuhan.
The last Shanghai medical team from Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital returns home on a China Eastern flight on Friday.
