Go to work, Chinese medics with Covid-19 told

Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan says the focus should be shifted from preventing infection to treating patients.

People queueing to buy antigen test kits in Nanjing on Thursday. Picture: AFP

Medical staff in Beijing are being asked to go to work even if they are infected with Covid-19 as the city battles an increase in infections after dropping its most stringent controls.

“Health workers without symptoms or [who] have mild cases should stay in their positions. Only then can we ensure the 24-hour operation of fever clinics and properly treat severe cases,” Zeng Guang, a former chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, told The Paper, a state-run news website.

Asked if that would increase the risks for vulnerable patients, Dr Zeng answered: “If infected medics don’t report to work, the losses would be greater, for patients would not be admitted to hospital, leading to greater problems.

“We will beef up protective measures for medical workers and we will try to have uninfected medical workers work in non-contagious departments, especially in the wards for the elderly and for those with chronic diseases.”

After health officials scrapped mandatory PCR testing in Beijing, a city of 20 million people, it has become more difficult to assess the severity of the latest outbreak. Residents have been asked to self-diagnose with antigen testing kits and self-isolate at home.

The National Health Commission said on Wednesday that without compulsory PCR testing it would be impossible to gather data to report asymptomatic cases across the country.

Overnight Wednesday the country reported 2249 new infections – probably only a fraction of the actual number.

At one Beijing hospital 700 healthcare workers tested positive in one day, according to the news website 8am.

At another Beijing hospital a fifth of employees could not report to work at all last week.

“Those who have tested positive, in principle, should not work, but the hospital management has asked all departments to decide on their own,” an anonymous doctor told 8am. “The foremost task of the hospital is to continue operating, so those who don’t have symptoms are coming to work.”

On Wednesday Sun Chunlan, the vice-premier in charge of Covid prevention and control, said the focus should be shifted from preventing infection to treating patients.

At present the city has 50 Covid patients in severe or critical conditions, according to Xinhua, the official state news agency.

No deaths have been reported since November 23.

“The goal is to protect health and prevent severe cases,” Ms Sun said. “We have the advantage of rallying national resources, and it’s certain we can pull through the peak smoothly.”

The Times