Beijing to strengthen virus prevention, control measures at hospitals

Beijing will improve prevention and control measures at hospitals to further screen out areas and contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, according to the city's top officials on Wednesday.

By 2017, there were 1,064 hospitals in Beijing, with most concentrated in the capital's downtown area, according to official figures.

The high concentration of hospitals and risks in infection, which has been demonstrated in the previous cluster infection case, has pushed the municipal government to strengthen management.

As of 6 am Thursday, Fuxing Hospital, a top hospital in Beijing's Xicheng district, had confirmed 34 cases of people infected with novel coronavirus pneumonia, said Li Dongxia, the hospital's president, during a daily briefing in Beijing on Thursday.

Among the 34 confirmed cases, 15 were in the Cardiology Department's ICU, a cluster infection among the patients, doctors and care workers, according to a previous release from the municipal government.

Fuxing Hospital had implemented closed management for 14 days, starting Feb 5, Li said on Thursday, adding that a thorough disinfection has been conducted in the entire hospital region.

Also, the hospital has put all close contacts with previously confirmed cases, as well as those individuals facing high risks of infection, under medical observation.

"I felt very painful and guilty that the cluster infection cases happened at Fuxing Hospital," Li said, adding the hospital has carried out eight precautions to further strengthen medical prevention and control in the fight against the contagion.

The capital's top officials also had called for more efforts to guarantee the rights of front line medical workers and ensure safety in the medical environment.

Frontline medical workers that participated in the epidemic control and prevention should be taken good care of and support from various aspects should be guaranteed, Beijing Daily reported, citing information from a meeting chaired by the capital's Party Secretary Cai Qi on Wednesday.

The overall health care environment at fever clinics and emergency treatment clinics also needs be strengthened to improve medical service quality, the meeting said.

A specific prevention guideline for nursing facilities, welfare sites and community care centers in Beijing should be drafted to strengthen epidemic prevention and control special groups, according to the meeting.