Encouraging signs in China's battle against novel coronavirus outbreak

As strengthened measures were implemented on control, prevention and treatment of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pneumonia, China has seen multiple encouraging signs in the battle against the coronavirus outbreak.

Officials with the National Health Commission (NHC) said at a press conference on Feb 4 in Beijing that the majority of coronavirus patients in the country only suffer from mild symptoms and the average hospital stay is no longer than 20 days.

Chinese health authorities are also optimistic due to significant statistics that showcase the dropping fatality rate and declining daily number of fever patients.

MILD SYMPTOMS IN THE MAJORITY

Most patients that have been infected with the coronavirus only show mild symptoms, Jiao Yahui, an NHC official said at the press conference.

Jiao called on people not to mistakenly believe that all patients are suffering from severe symptoms even though the press conference mainly introduced situations of severe patients. She also urged people not to panic.

The average hospital stay of discharged patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia in Hubei province, where the virus was first detected, lasted for 20 days, while those infected with the virus outside Hubei are hospitalized for an average of just over nine days, according to Jiao.

By the end of Feb 3, a total of 632 patients infected with the novel coronavirus had been discharged from hospitals, the NHC said in its daily report, adding that Feb 3 saw 157 people discharged from the hospital after recovery, 101 of which were in Hubei.

"We are eager to see a turning point in the outbreak situation as early as possible," Jiao said.

DECLINING FATALITY RATE

The NHC also announced on Feb 4 that the case fatality rate (CFR) of the novel coronavirus-related pneumonia had seen a decrease.

The CFR of the coronavirus infection on the Chinese mainland has dropped from an initial 2.3 percent at the beginning of the outbreak to the current 2.1 percent, according to the NHC.

Hubei province, the epicenter of the epidemic in China, has seen a majority of the deaths. The province has a death toll of 414, over 97 percent of the total, and its CFR was as high as 3.1 percent, the NHC official said.

Currently, more than 80 percent of the deaths were elderly people over 60 years old and over 75 percent had at least one underlying disease such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and tumors, Jiao said.

Elderly people with underlying diseases infected with any kind of pneumonia would be at a higher risk, she added.

Official data showed that a total of 425 people had died of the disease as of the end of Feb 3 while the number of confirmed cases has reached to 20,438.

Jiao also noticed that the number of newly-cured patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia has exceeded the new death toll since Jan 28. She said that the number might rise and fall in the upcoming days, but the current recovery rate has proved that the comprehensive treatment for the epidemic is gradually taking effect.

"China is going all out to improve admission and survival rates and reduce infection and fatality rates," she said.

SLOWING INCREASE OF FEVER PATIENTS

The daily number of patients in fever clinics across the country has declined as the country continues its rigorous measures to fight a novel coronavirus outbreak, the NHC official said.

National data showed that the country's fever clinics received a total of 220,865 patients on Feb 3, 7 percent lower than the previous day, said Jiao, adding that the figure has been declining for days, which is gradually easing the burden on medical staff working in fever clinics.

Jiao also noted that the situation in Wuhan, Hubei province, is still challenging, with over 12,000 patients visiting fever clinics on Feb 3, but the increase is slowing.

Fever, cough and weakness are major symptoms of the novel coronavirus infection. A total of 15,000 fever clinics have been set up across the mainland.