Huangpu hospital reopens after 14-day lockdown
People line up for registration and payment at the Renji Hospital’s west branch in Huangpu District on Monday.
Renji Hospital’s west branch in Huangpu District resumed operations on Monday.
The hospital was placed under lockdown after a worker was diagnosed with COVID-19 on January 21. After 14 days, quarantined patients, medical workers and others were able to leave the hospital last Thursday.
More than 1,600 people made appointments for Monday's outpatient services, hospital officials said. An employee surnamed Zhang who works in the hospital’s reception area said that number is higher than usual.
A 64-year-old woman surnamed Wang said she arrived at the hospital at 8am and discovered many people had already arrived. It took her around two hours to get a prescription filled. Her relative had run out of a medication and had to wait for the reopening to get more of it.
““To be honest, I felt a bit nervous before going to the hospital today,” Wang said. “But the strict COVID-19 prevention measures there relieved my stress.”
The hospital's regular COVID-19 control and prevention rules remain in effect. Everyone must wear a mask, visitors have to show their green health QR codes before entering and people needing to be hospitalized — as well as anyone accompanying them — must provide negative nucleic acid test results.
The temperature of the visitors will be taken by the infrared temperature sensor at the gate of the hospital in Huangpu District on Monday.
A patient in her 70s surnamed Jiao said it is understandable that many people are visiting the hospital on Monday.
“Although there are a lot of people, the hospital is orderly,” Jiao said.
According to hospital officials, many seniors arrived at the hospital at 6am, which is when manual registration service began.
“We expected a lot of people today,” said Dr Zhang Qing from cardiology department. “Some patients were reluctant to be hospitalized because of the pandemic, but I reminded them not to miss the best treatment time. It's great the hospital finally reopened. Some people needed to be treated right away.”
During the lockdown, only emergency surgeries could be carried out, according to Tan Bo, the operating room's chief nurse.
"More than 50 operations were carried out this morning," Tan said. “Medical equipment has been prepared and all medical workers are ready.”
Decorations for the upcoming Spring Festival in the hospital in Huangpu District
Some stores near the hospital that were closed when the hospital was locked down reopened as well.
An employee of Narrow Gate on Shandong Road M. said the coffee shop reopened on Friday but business is slow.
“I hope everything will return to normal soon,” she said.
Since reopening, Narrow Gate has registered the personal information and contact number of every delivery person to facilitate quick tracking and medical screening.
