11,000 cases of COVID-19 in Shanghai discharged since March
Beds in the newly built makeshift hospital at the National Exhibition and Convention Center.
More than 11,000 people who had mild symptoms after being infected with COVID-19 or were asymptomatic have been discharged after making a full recovery since the resurgence in March, according to the Shanghai Health Commission.
Local authorities must allow them to return home and help them with home quarantine and health observation, said Wu Qianyu, an official with the commission.
A coronavirus patient must test negative twice or have CT, or cycle threshold, values of nucleic acid testing above 35 before being discharged or dismissed from medical observation.
The two polymerase chain reaction tests must be made between intervals of at least one day, according to China's latest edition of the "Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia."
Wu Jinglei, director of the commission, has said that recovered COVID-19 or asymptomatic cases won't infect others after being discharged.
No such transmission case has been found among discharged patients according to studies of disease control experts, he said.
"We hope their family and community won't worry about them or discriminate against them," he noted.
Hospitals or quarantine sites will fully disinfect the luggage, clothes and personal belongings and environment of the patients before their discharge. All their daily garbage will be treated in the same way as medical waste.
After returning home, it is suggested the recovered patients live in a well-ventilated room alone and avoid close contact and meals with their family members. They should also reduce contacts with other residents in the community.
