Number of patients received at fever outpatient clinics declining

Nationwide data shows that the number of patients received in fever outpatient clinics is continuing to decline, said Jiao Yahui, deputy chief of the National Health Commission's Medical Administration and Supervision Department, on Tuesday.

As of Monday, fever outpatient clinics across the country had accepted 220,865 people, 16,710 fewer than the previous day, and 7 percent down, Jiao said at a daily press conference in Beijing.

"In recent days, according to national monitoring, the number of visits to fever outpatient clinics has kept decreasing," she said.

A total of 15,000 fever outpatient clinics and 2,092 designated hospitals have been set up across the Chinese mainland. To know the situation at fever clinics in a timely manner, the commission established a daily report system about fever outpatients, Jiao said.

Fever outpatient clinics in Wuhan, the capital city of Central China's Hubei province and also the outbreak center of the novel coronavirus, received 12,568 patients on Monday, an increase of 56 over the previous day.

"Based on this trend, although the absolute number of outpatient visits for fever clinics in Wuhan was increasing, the growth rate has slowed down recently," Jiao said.

"In general the number of fever patients and the amount of work of medical personnel are both gradually reducing. The fever clinics can basically meet the needs of these patients,"she added.

Jiao noted that the high incidence of respiratory diseases in winter also resulted in the high load of fever clinics for cities in Hubei, such as Wuhan.

To ease the tension on medical resources in hospitals in Wuhan, a daily allocation system of medical resources has been adopted, including the number of available beds and the number of medical personnel that can be deployed on that day.

"At present, there is still a shortage of beds, and the number of medical staff can basically meet the needs of current treatment," Jiao said.

Wuhan is taking various measures to increase the supply of beds, including adding more beds in some designated hospitals. The two temporary hospitals, dedicating to treating the infected cases, Huoshenshan Hospital, which is already in operation, and the soon-to-be completed Leishenshan Hospital, could offer more beds, according to Jiao.