Italians call Chinese help vital and timely

Medical supplies such as masks and respirators sent from China to aid Italy's fight against novel coronavirus have been hailed as vital and timely by the Italian community, as Chinese medical experts on the ground in Italy are racing to help reduce the country's high mortality rate.

A team of nine Chinese medics, comprising epidemiologists, intensive care specialists and a plasma therapy expert, arrived in Italy late on Thursday on a plane loaded with 31 metric tons of equipment, as the European country grapples a surge in new infections, a shortage of protective and medical devices and severe fatalities.

"To bring down mortality rate is a priority in disease control, especially given that we're coping with an emerging virus. So we have dispatched the most competent experts in treating severe and critical cases to Italy," said Lu Ming, a team member who also works with the National Health Commission's international cooperation department.

Italy counted 21,157 total infections with 1,441 deaths, its health authority said on Saturday evening local time. That has put the country's fatality rate far higher than most other countries affected by the pathogen.

To facilitate treatment efforts, the Chinese team has brought intensive care equipment, such as electrocardiogram machines that monitor patients' conditions and respirators, as well as traditional Chinese medicines and other drugs that show efficacy in curing infections in China, according to Lu, who spoke with China National Radio.

"We have also carried plasma and blood products from recovered Chinese patients, " he added. Using such infusions of blood plasma in infected patients is believed to be a valid therapeutic approach.

Yang Huichuan, vice-president of China National Biotech Group, is a member of the team for his expertise in convalesce plasma. He said in a personal account published by Xinhua News Agency on Saturday that the team was greeted with warm hospitality and was impressed with Italians' demand for absorbing China's experiences in controlling the epidemic.

"From those working on technical details, those involved in diagnosis and treatment, to Red Cross members and diplomats - they were all eager to meet us, as Italy is now at a stage of a rapid contagion," he said.

The team plans to visit more hospitals in Rome and then Lombardy region in northern Italy that was hit hardest by the virus to better understand the country's epidemic situation and offer more tailor-made suggestions, Yang said.

Eva Dal Pozzo, a senior business consultant in Italy, said as Italian hospitals are overloaded and local factories do not have sufficient production capacity, therefore devices delivered by China such as intubation are "vital."

"I appreciate a lot this lovely gesture from China," she was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

In addition to concerted efforts to save patients, Chinese experts have also underlined the significance of restricting movement of the public and strict quarantine of the infected.

"We're willing to share hard-won diagnosis and treatment guidelines with Italians, and we also hope that our Italian colleagues will be able to enforce proper quarantine of infected cases and general epidemic control measures," Lu, from the National Health Commission, said.

Italy has already instituted a countrywide lockdown on Wednesday intended to limit the spread of the virus. Local residents began snapping up masks and disinfectants that triggered a shortage of personal protective equipment.

"Everywhere you can see signs indicating that the masks are finished. For this reason, this cargo of masks from China can be vital in the areas with lots of patients. It was a godsend," Giorgio Ronzani, an Italian lawyer, was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

Cinzia Pasquale, a senior consultant on European Union affairs living in Lombardy, said her family's search for facial masks turned out futile and online purchases were severely delayed due to shuttered logistics. "So one can imagine how the load of Chinese medical material had been welcomed," she was quoted by Xinhua.

"Seeing how China has managed the outbreak in Wuhan, I am, personally very confident of the contribution that the Chinese medical staff will make to the heroic Italian doctors who have been overwhelmed by this health emergency," she added.

Italy is the third country after Iran and Iraq that has received official Chinese medical assistance as the novel coronavirus is raging worldwide and the World Health Organization has declared the virus outbreak as a global pandemic.

Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and Francesco Rocca, president of the Italian Red Cross Society, had both expressed their gratitude to China's generous offerings at a news conference following the aid team's arrival last week.