Fight to reunite: How Wuhan tackled COVID-19

Wuhan, February 7

On receiving the test results, Han knows it's time to say goodbye to his father. They are both infected with the novel coronavirus.

His father, who is in a severe condition, is sent to the designated Tongji Hospital. Han goes to a temporary hospital, which has nearly 1,500 beds.

Temporary hospitals, transformed from the city's venues, are the key to containing the spread of the virus. They house over 13,000 beds exclusively for patients with mild symptoms and provide timely treatment.

Han, with mild symptoms, was well cared for in the temporary hospital. Medical staff even danced with the patients to help ease anxiety. The video later became a hit on social media.

By February 18, nearly 5,000 people in Wuhan have recovered.

Wuhan's best hospitals were designated to treat patients like Han's father. By February 20, there were 48 such hospitals, hardly enough to accommodate the 10,000 seriously ill patients.

A total of 42,000 medical personnel came to Hubei to fight the epidemic. Experts and medical teams from outside Hubei took over some of the ICU wards. Ventilators and ECMOs (artificial lungs) were transported from across China.

Doctors risk their lives to intubate the critically ill. Intubation must be fast, said doctors at Tongji Hospital's ICU where Han's father was treated, because patients' conditions could quickly deteriorate. A rule at the hospital: close monitoring and 24-hour care.

More and more treatment plans, including respiratory support and plasma therapy, are put into action. Traditional Chinese medicine helped many of them alleviate symptoms and shorten the duration of overall treatment.

As of February 24, over 10,000 patients had recovered in Wuhan. Three days later, the number topped 15,000. After another five days, it neared 25,000. The recovered patients include a 100-year-old man and a 17-day-old baby.

Han and his father are now in quarantine after recovery. Their reunion is in sight.

However, some doctors couldn't make it to the spring. They are the true heroes fighting the coronavirus.（In Hubei alone, over 3,000 medical workers have been infected. At least 31 of them died, including the head of a hospital.）

Dr. Bruce Aylward, team leader of the China-WHO joint mission on COVID-19 said to replicate the success of China's counterattack elsewhere would require speed, money, imagination and political courage.

As the epidemic is spreading around the globe, only by cooperating with each other can we defeat the common enemy — COVID-19.

News Source: CGTN