At-risk groups prioritized amid COVID preparations

The National Health Commission stressed improving intensive care and COVID-19 treatment resources as well as boosting medical services for pregnant women, children and the elderly on Friday as the country ramps up its preparedness for the impact of COVID-19.

Jiao Yahui, director of the commission's medical administration department, said at a news conference that COVID-19 makeshift hospitals will be retrofitted and equipped with more treatment capacities to become sub-designated hospitals for patients.

High-level hospitals have also been required to maintain the number of intensive care unit beds at no less than 4 percent of the total number of their beds, and to increase the number of convertible beds in order to guarantee sufficient capacity when necessary.

"Internal medicine, emergency care and pediatric specialists are also required to receive training on critical care, so that they can be deployed to care for critical patients when necessary," Jiao said.

She added that all expansion and upgrading work must be finished before the end of December.

According to the commission, China currently has about 138,100 critical care beds, or 10 such beds per 100,000 people. There are a total of 80,500 critical care specialists and 220,000 intensive care nurses, as well as over 106,000 doctors and 178,000 nurses capable of handling intensive care unit work, she said.

In a notice released on its website, the commission said that all medical institutions should deliver timely treatment to women in labor, newborns and pregnant women in critical condition, and children in need of emergency care while taking COVID-19 precautions. It is strictly prohibited to reject patients or delay treatment for disease control reasons.

Maternity and childcare facilities should dedicate resources to strengthening critical care and anesthesiology departments, while also stocking sufficient emergency care, intensive care and testing equipment, as well as medical consumables, drugs, protective materials and antigen tests, it said.

To step up care for the elderly, Jiao said that local communities are required to evaluate and color code the health condition of seniors, in order to facilitate regular monitoring of those at high risk.

"High-level hospitals should also set up special channels for the elderly so that they can be directly and quickly transferred there," she said.

In a separate development, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism said on Friday that travelers are no longer required to show negative nucleic acid test results and health codes or take nucleic acid tests upon arriving at destinations.

In addition, people visiting entertainment venues such as cybercafes and theaters are also exempted from these requirements.