More facilities open to shelter feverish patients

Makeshift fever clinics have been opened in Beijing to help receive a surge in the number of patients as part of the latest interventions against COVID-19 and seasonal flu.

As of Thursday, five facilities are operational, in stadiums in the Xicheng, Chaoyang, Shijingshan and Fengtai districts, and in a theater in Dongcheng district, to help relieve the pressure on local hospitals and shelter patients from waiting in long lines in freezing winds. Physicians are mainly dispatched from local key public hospitals.

Li Jia, vice-president of Xuanwu Hospital, who is in charge of the makeshift fever clinic in Guang'an Stadium in Xicheng, said it provides medical services to fever patients aged 16 to 65 suffering from respiratory tract infections and who don't have underlying conditions.

The clinic, opened on Wednesday, operates from 10 am to 10 pm. Patients can pay with their medical insurance, and doctors will give guidance for drug use according to their condition. Patients can also pick up drugs. In case of emergency, medical workers will transfer patients to the nearest hospital.

On Wednesday, Xuanwu Hospital, Peking University People's Hospital, Guangwai Hospital and Fuxing Hospital sent doctors to the stadium, and doctors from other hospitals in Xicheng will join later.

A patient surnamed Li was one of the first to visit the clinic. He told Beijing Daily that it took about 20 minutes for him to get the medical help and drugs he needed.

"The doctor asked about my symptoms carefully. The medical workers are very patient, and various drugs are available," he told the paper.

Another makeshift fever clinic was opened in a 300-square-meter area on the first floor at the Red Theater in Dongcheng, which is expected to receive 300 patient visits daily, to serve fever patients aged 6 to 60 with no underlying conditions from 9 am to 5 pm, according to Zhou Yingwu, deputy director of the Dongcheng health commission.

The number of visits to fever clinics in Beijing on Sunday surged 16 times on a week earlier to 22,000, evidence the epidemic is spreading quickly in the city, Li Ang, deputy director of Beijing Municipal Health Commission, told a news conference on Monday.

By Monday, the number of fever clinics had grown from 94 to 303. A total of 235 clinics operate 24 hours a day, and 100 receive children, Li added.

Major hospitals in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, have also set up special operating rooms and isolation wards for COVID-19 patients as demand grows, local media reported.

According to a statement released by the Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital on Thursday, the hospital has dedicated its negative pressure operating room to patients testing positive for COVID-19 in its emergency department, providing quick and convenient medical service.

In addition, the hospital's emergency department has established a special fever clinic, resuscitation room, intensive care units, pediatric intensive care units and isolated buffer areas to receive and treat infected patients.

The Guangzhou headquarters for COVID-19 prevention and control has issued a notice to major hospitals in the city saying that medical institutions are not permitted to refuse to treat COVID-19 patients for any reason.

The number of patients has increased fivefold to tenfold in some outpatient departments in Guangzhou, and between 60 and 70 percent of the fever patients testing positive for COVID-19, local media said.

Wang Songsong contributed to this story.