First group of COVID-19 cases to be discharged from Center quarantine

Some 200 people who were positive to COVID-19 will be discharged from the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center on Sunday.

It is the first group of people to be discharged from the colossal convention center after it was converted into a new central quarantine site for mild symptoms and asymptomatic infections on March 26.

So far, five medical teams with 910 medics are serving at the site with 7,120 patients.

After one-week of operation, both medics and patients have built good relationships, doctors said.

According to the latest COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment guideline issued by the National Health Commission, people with COVID-19 can be discharged after having two negative nucleic acid tests within at least 24 hours intervals.

Meanwhile, half of the biggest central quarantine site at the Shanghai New International Expo Center in the Pudong New Area can be put into use, officials said.

The site, which opened on Thursday night, has up to 15,000 beds for people with mild COVID-19 symptoms and asymptomatic infections.

After N4 and N5, the N1, N2 and N3 sections are also fully constructed and renovated and will receive patients from Saturday night. The five sections have a total of 7,500 beds. All the facilities have passed final checks and examination.

Currently, the N4 and N5 sections have received 2,700 patients and the remaining 300 beds will be occupied on Saturday night.

Chen Erzhen, vice president of Ruijin Hospital and head of Shanghai's central quarantine treatment team, said the three new sections will be in the charge of medical teams from Shanghai's Shuguang, Longhua and Yueyang hospitals. All of them have a strong focus on traditional Chinese medicine, which will play an important role in COVID-19 treatment and control.

The remaining five sections covering the other half of the site are also in the final stage of construction and renovation.

Ti Gong

Ti Gong