500-strong medical expert team joins all-out effort to save people in critical condition
Quarantine staff take a motorcycle journey to their workplace.
Shanghai has set up a medical rescue team of 500 experts to reduce the severe symptoms and deaths, mainly among local seniors in critical condition, from COVID-19 infections.
Of COVID-19 patients in local designated and makeshift hospitals, 512 have severe symptoms and 99 are in critical condition. Most of them are seniors with severe underlying diseases, said Zhao Dandan, deputy director of the Shanghai Health Commission.
"The key principles are to treat both the coronavirus and underlying diseases with both Western and traditional Chinese medicines, to prevent people with mild symptoms turning severe," Zhao told the city's daily COVID-19 press briefing.
The city reported 13 more COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday – three fewer than Tuesday – with the casualties having an average age of 82.77 years. All had severe underlying conditions, and none had been vaccinated.
Local COVID-19 designated hospitals have launched an early monitoring, alarm, evaluation and intervening work scheme for the elderly patients. The expert teams will visit the patients regularly and transfer those in serious conditions to higher level hospitals.
The comprehensive expert rescue team includes over 500 specialists from various departments such as cardiovascular, endocrine, digestive, urinary, tumor, TCM, obstetrics, gynecology and pediatrics.
Quarantine staff undertake an inspection patrol around Nanjing Road W. areas.
Previously, most of the experts had been drawn from infection, respiratory and severe symptoms departments.
A group of experienced TCM doctors has also joined to provide targeted medication solutions for each of the patients in critical conditions.
Zhao reiterated the importance of COVID-19 vaccines for the prevention of severe symptoms and asked all eligible seniors to take the jabs as soon as possible.
Shanghai's daily infection number declined by about 6 percent day-on-day to a total of 4,651 on Wednesday.
According to the results of PCR tests plus antigen screening, a total of almost 16.47 million local residents, or some 65 percent of Shanghai's total population, are in precautionary areas – communities, villages and businesses without a positive case in the last two weeks.
The number of residents in locked-down areas has fallen to 2.34 million, while 4.51 million people are in controlled areas, Zhao revealed.
Quarantine staff do an inspection patrol on a local street.
