Parents can stay with infected kids at makeshift hospitals, regardless positive or not
Chen Erzhen, vice president of Ruijin Hospital and head of Shanghai's central quarantine treatment team, delivers a short speech to motivate the medics on Monday.
Officials from Shanghai Children's Medical Center serving at Shanghai's largest makeshift hospital indicated that parents, regardless of whether they are positive for COVID-19, can stay with their infected children at makeshift hospitals.
The hospital, located at the Shanghai New International Expo Center, is now fully operational after the remaining half of the hospital, which has 6,600 beds, completed renovations and began accepting patients on Monday night.
The facility, which opened last Thursday, can accommodate up to 15,000 patients with mild COVID-19 symptoms and asymptomatic infections.
At the moment, 11 medical teams with a total of 2,218 medics are stationed at the site. Medics from Shanghai Children's Medical Center reached the site on Monday morning to deal with child patients.
COVID-19 patients are being brought in at the makeshift hospital at the Shanghai New International Expo Center on Monday.
The section supervised by the children's medical center and Shanghai 10th People's Hospital has nearly 1,000 beds, many of which are reserved for families with children. The section received 177 families with 89 children between Monday night and 8am today.
Among the child patients, over 80 percent's parents are also positive to COVID-19 due to infection among family members. They are transported together to the makeshift hospital and stay in the same place. For the small quantity of negative parents, medics also allow them to stay with the kids after informing all the risks.
Also, a medical team from Shanghai Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine is utilizing the TCM feature to expedite patients' recovery at the site.
Yueyang's medical team has received nearly 1,500 patients at the site's N1 section. They are being served herbal soup, acupuncture therapy, tuina and are participating TCM-theory practice to boost immunity and recovery.
The Yueyang-developed Qingshugubiaofang, a herbal medicine based on traditional recipes while combining the hospital's experience in Wuhan, aims to prevent and control respiratory syndromes. Ordinary people, those working in high-risk jobs, and COVID-19 patients can all benefit from the herbal soup.
There are also a dozen medical professionals on the team who specialize in acupuncture, tuina and rehabilitation. Medics use their professional skills to relieve patients' physical pain and other symptoms, which are also associated with anxiety after spending time at the site.
A 65-year-old woman, who regularly suffers from migraine, flared up recently after she was brought into the makeshift hospital. Acupuncture treatment was administered by doctors, and the results were positive.
"We use a combination of herbal soup, acupuncture, tuina and TCM-based exercises to help patients improve their physical and psychological status, as well as to improve their recovery and treatment," said Zhao Qing, team leader from Yueyang Hospital. "We are not here as doctors and patients. We are more like team members who work hard together to defeat COVID-19."
Medics from Shanghai Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine perform TCM-therapy exercises with patients.
Yueyang Hospital staff distribute herbal soup to patients.
