A French COVID-19 patient poses with nurses showing the paper-cutting he made before he was discharged from the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center on January 26, 2022. Photo: Courtesy of Shanghai Municipal Health Commission

A total of 36 imported COVID-19 patients in Shanghai, including eight foreign patients, were discharged from hospital on Wednesday, bringing the accumulated number of recovered patients to 233 within a week since January 20, when the number of patients discharged from hospital reached a record high of 47 on a single day. 

On the same day, an asymptomatic infection was also released from medical observation, according to a press release from the local health commission. 

Among the 36 recovered patients, the youngest is only 7 months old while the oldest is 63 years old. 

The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients at Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, the designated hospital in Shanghai for COVID-19 patients, reached record highs in January. 

In response to the high number of imported cases recently, Wu Jinglei, director of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, said at a press conference on Monday that Shanghai has made a targeted plan in advance. At present, Shanghai is sufficiently equipped with medical personnel, facilities, materials and equipment. 

Shanghai should prepare for a scenario where the number of COVID-19 cases might surge five or 10 times the current level, as global efforts in fighting the pandemic has been waning and tiring, suggested China's Dr. Fauci, Zhang Wenhong, a well-respected infectious disease expert in Shanghai, to the Shanghai government during the city's just concluded two sessions. 

The patients were treated with antiviral medicine, traditional Chinese medicine and offered psychological counseling services during their stay in hospital. 

Since the foreign patients come from different countries and have different customs and habits, the municipal expert group has been constantly adjusting the treatment measures according to the characteristics of the imported cases and their specific situations to improve the comprehensive nature of medical treatment and strengthen humanized services, providing the patients with mental health counseling, language translation services, and meeting their special dietary requirements. 

A French patient tried creating paper-cutting, a popular Chinese folk art on Tuesday to celebrate his recovery and the approaching Chinese New Year. 

Global Times