Local COVID-19 patient discharged from hospital

A locally transmitted case of COVID-19, which was confirmed on November 9, was discharged from hospital on Sunday.

"I stayed at the hospital for 20 days, and I am very grateful to the doctors and nurses," said the patient surnamed Wang, a 51-year-old male porter from Yingqian Village, Zhuqiao Town in Shanghai's Pudong New Area.

As the first recent locally transmitted case, Wang suffered from severe psychological pressure, the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, a designated hospital for treating coronavirus patients where Wang was hospitalized, said.

"The patient had no idea about the disease so we conducted psychological counseling," said Li Xinyan, a doctor of the center.

Wang's psychological burden eased after learning his family members were not infected, the center said.

He was very cooperative with the treatment, doctors added.

Wang since tested negative in several nucleic acid tests. Clinical observation also indicated he met the criteria for being discharged, the center said.

Wang will undergo 14 days of medical observation.

He has worked at Shanghai Pudong International Airport since April 8 and has not left Shanghai.

Wang had no COVID-19 contact history and no hospital visits in the past three months.

A 50-year-old colleague of Wang was also confirmed as infected. He had been working with Wang at the cargo terminal of Pudong airport before returning home in Anhui Province on November 5.

They were both exposed to an aviation shipping container which arrived in Shanghai from North America late last month, the Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention said. The pair cleaned the container without wearing masks for more than 10 minutes.

Analysis confirmed the pair's coronavirus strains were similar to those in North America.

The Yingqian Village of Zhuqiao Town where Wang lived had its infection risk level downgraded since Tuesday after no locally transmitted COVID-19 cases were reported for 14 days.