LI DUOYUN and Zheng Mingmi of Shenzhen’s first team of 13 medical workers that set off to Wuhan, Hubei Province on Sunday to aid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) control efforts are among the first group of 20 medical workers from Guangdong scheduled to start treating patients in mobile “cabin hospitals” in Wuhan yesterday.

Li, a doctor of the Department of Infectious Diseases of Nanshan People’s Hospital, and Zheng, a senior nurse with the Shenzhen No. 1 People’s Hospital, were to start working in Dongxihu Hospital, one of the cabin hospitals recently converted from sports gymnasiums and convention centers, in Wuchang District.

According to Wang Lei, head of the medical group giving treatment in the cabin hospitals, the 20 doctors and nurses will be divided into four groups working in four different locations, and each of the doctors will be responsible for about 60 patients.

Wang urged all medical workers to strictly adhere to medical procedures and rules to avoid infection at a meeting Tuesday afternoon.

Li and her Shenzhen team members underwent intensive training on the 13 protective clothing and prevention gear procedures after arriving in Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, Sunday night.

Li was chosen as the first doctor from Shenzhen to start treating patients as she performed best during the training, the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily said yesterday. “I am ready,” said Li, adding that she was thrilled and nervous about working at Dongxihu Hospital.

She said she volunteered to go to Wuhan, where she had previously lived for 15 years, and she is confident that she will do her work well.

Li, from Jingzhou City in Hubei Province, said she regards Wuhan as her second hometown. She worked in Wuhan for several years after graduating from the renowned Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology. “And my husband is from Wuhan. Many of my friends from college and work are in Wuhan,” she said, adding that she was anxious about their conditions when COVID-19 first broke out.

Li and her co-workers attended an orientation on Dongxihu Hospital on Tuesday afternoon after the meeting. Dongxihu Hospital is about 400 meters from Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, the medical center specialized in the treatment of infectious diseases in Wuhan.

The 13 medical workers from Shenzhen and the 11th group of 308 doctors and nurses from other cities of Guangdong Province will be divided into 20 groups to conduct work in various hospitals short on medical personnel in Wuhan.

Xiang Jingfen, head of Guangdong’s 11th group of medical workers to aid Hubei in the COVID-19 control efforts, said every doctor and nurse from Guangdong Province aimed at not contracting the disease while treating patients.

“I can’t wait to eat the famous Wuhan reganmian (hot noodles with sesame paste) after winning the battle against NCP (novel coronavirus pneumonia),” Li wrote in her journal after arriving in Wuhan.

(Wei Jie)