CHINA yesterday issued a white paper on the country’s battle against COVID-19.

    The white paper, titled “Fighting COVID-19: China in Action,” was issued by the State Council Information Office.

    The white paper consists of four parts: “China’s Fight against the Epidemic: A Test of Fire,” “Well-Coordinated Prevention, Control and Treatment,” “Assembling a Powerful Force to Beat the Virus,” and “Building a Global Community of Health for All.”

    As of the end of May, a total of 83,017 confirmed cases had been reported on the Chinese mainland, 78,307 infected had been cured and discharged from hospital, and 4,634 people had died. This demonstrates a cure rate of 94.3 percent, according to the white paper.

    The city of Wuhan in Hubei, a province once hardest hit by COVID-19, repurposed stadiums and exhibition centers into 16 temporary treatment centers, or Fangcang shelter hospitals, providing some 14,000 beds and making it possible to admit all confirmed mild cases for treatment.

    This helped reduce infections and virus transmission in communities and prevent mild cases from worsening.

    Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used in treating 92 percent of all confirmed COVID-19 cases across China.

    A set of TCM diagnosis and treatment protocols were developed to cover the entire process of medical observation, treatment of mild, moderate, severe and critical cases, and recovery, and they have been applied nationwide.

    In Hubei, more than 90 percent of confirmed cases received TCM treatment that proved effective.

    All COVID-19 patients, confirmed or suspected, received subsidies from State finance for any medical bills not covered by basic medical insurance, serious disease insurance, or the medical assistance fund.

    As of May 31, the medical bills of 58,000 inpatients with confirmed infections had been settled by basic medical insurance, with a total expenditure of 1.35 billion yuan (US$190 million), or 23,000 yuan per person.

    The average cost for treating COVID-19 patients in severe condition surpassed 150,000 yuan, and in some critical cases the individual cost exceeded 1 million yuan, all covered by the State.

    More than 3,000 COVID-19 patients over the age of 80, including seven centenarians, have been cured in Hubei.

    Many of these cured senior patients were brought back to life from the verge of death. 

    For example, a 70-year-old patient was saved thanks to intensive treatment and care by more than 10 medical workers over a period of several weeks. The cost of his treatment, nearly 1.5 million yuan, was fully covered by the government.

    From Jan. 24 to March 8, China rallied 346 national medical teams, consisting of 42,600 medical workers and more than 900 public health professionals to the immediate aid of Hubei and the city of Wuhan.

    The People’s Liberation Army dispatched over 4,000 medical personnel to Hubei to work in epidemic control and sent aircraft to transport emergency medical supplies.

    The Chinese Government also urgently solicited key medical supplies across the country for Wuhan and other locations in Hubei.

    China has released authoritative and detailed information as early as possible on a regular basis, thus effectively responding to public concern and building public consensus.

    During China’s fight against COVID-19, some 4 million Chinese community workers were working in around 650,000 urban and rural communities to guard against the disease.

    Preliminary statistics show that as of May 31, 8.81 million registered volunteers across the country had participated in more than 460,000 volunteer projects, rendering a total of more than 290 million hours of voluntary service.

    China initiated 83 emergency research and development programs in such areas as clinical treatment, new medicines and vaccines, testing techniques and products and epidemiology and pooled top research resources around the nation in the programs.

    As soon as cases of pneumonia of an unknown cause were identified in Wuhan, China acted immediately to conduct etiological and epidemiological investigations and to stop the spread of the disease, and promptly reported the situation.

    China had sent 29 medical expert teams to 27 countries and offered assistance to 150 countries and four international organizations as of May 31.

    China has already sent medical supplies to over 50 African countries and the African Union, and dispatched seven medical expert teams to the continent.

    The head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention informed his U.S. counterpart of COVID-19 at least as early as Jan. 4.

    The communication came a day after the health authorities in the city of Wuhan issued Information Circular on Viral Pneumonia of Unknown Cause, reporting a total of 44 cases.

    From Jan. 3, on a regular basis, China began to update the World Health Organization, relevant countries, and regional organizations, as well as its own regions of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, on the development of the disease. (Xinhua, China Daily)