First patients discharged from specially built hospital

The first two patients infected with novel coronavirus pneumonia were discharged on Tuesday from Leishenshan Hospital, which was built to contain the epidemic in Wuhan, Hubei province.

Wuhan residents Yuan Youju, 83, and Wang Xiaobi, 36, recovered from the disease after nine days of treatment in the hospital.

The hospital, with a capacity for about 1,500 beds, was built in only 10 days and began treating patients on Feb 8.

The vital signs and mental conditions of the patients have greatly improved since they underwent treatment, said Yuan Yufeng, vice-president of the hospital.

Both of them will be subject to two weeks of isolation at home for medical observation in line with the guidelines for diagnosis and treatment, Yuan said.

Wang told the media that he will donate his blood plasma after the isolation period, as he was told the blood plasma of recovered patients can help cure others.

The hospital has admitted around 600 patients as of Monday, and in the coming two to three days it will admit more confirmed patients, Yuan said.

A Liaoning medical team consisting of 1,000-plus medical workers, who pitched in to support Wuhan in the fight against the epidemic, have taken charge of 17 of the 32 wards in the hospital.

Liu Zhiyu, president of the Second Hospital of Dalian Medical University in Dalian, Liaoning province, said the Dalian medical team is responsible for four wards, which have admitted 134 infected patients with ages ranging from 40 to 97. The oldest patient had a high fever of 40 C when he was admitted, but now he is in stable condition, said Liu, who is also the leader of the Dalian medical team.

"Besides scientific treatment, we found it important to conduct psychological counseling with the patients as some of them were seemingly anxious and even depressed at the very beginning," Liu said. "So we chatted with them and comforted them to help them recover more quickly."

Liu said there are no infections among medical workers in the hospital.

Sui Shaoguang, a doctor from the Dalian medical team, said the release of the first two patients is encouraging to medical workers in the hospital.

"I have faith that we can win the fight against the virus as long as all of us are united to overcome the difficulties," Sui said.