Notice on Further Strengthening Efforts to Treat Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia in Counties

Promulgation Date: 2020-1-28
Title: 国家卫生健康委办公厅关于进一步加强县域新型冠状病毒感染的肺炎医疗救治工作的通知
Document Number:国卫办医函〔2020〕83号
Expiration date: 
Promulgating Entities: General Office of the National Health Commission
Source of text: http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2020-01/29/content_5472891.htm

To the health commissions of each province, autonomous region, directly-governed municipality, and of the Xinjiang production and construction corps.

In order to implement the Party Central Committee and State Council's important decisions and deployments, to further do a good job of efforts to treat novel coronavirus pneumonia in counties, and to truly safeguard the people's lives, health, and safety. The following notice is hereby given on relevant matters:

I. Strengthen management of pre-screening triage and management of fever clinics

County-level hospitals in all localities must strictly implement the Measures on the Management of Infectious Disease Pre-Screening Triage in Medical Agencies, strictly implement pre-screening triage systems, establish fever clinics in stand-alone locations, have clear and obvious indicators, maintain good ventilation and implement disinfection and isolation measures, and prevent against overlap in the movement of people and materials. Strictly implement procedure on receiving patients with fever and conducting screening, diligently implement systems for patient registering and reporting, pay close attention to patients with an epidemiological record related to the novel coronavirus pneumonia, cough, fever or other such systems, and as soon as suspected cases are discovered, immediately adopt isolation and observation measures.

II. Earnestly complete efforts for preparation and treatment

All localities must fully make use of the role of medical consortiums, work in accordance with the principles of the Four Earlys—early discovery, early reporting, early isolation, and early treatment—and the Four Concentrates—concentrate cases, concentrate experts, concentrate resources, and concentrate treatment—to carry out concentrated treatment of patients of novel coronavirus pneumonia, particularly for those whose condition is serious. County-level hospitals, as designated hospitals, must receive and treat novel coronavirus pneumonia confirmed and suspected cases in separate infectious disease areas. Each locality must, based on their situations regarding the epidemic, select hospitals that have the conditions in place for infectious respiratory disease protection to operate as backup hospitals; when selecting general hospitals to act as backup hospitals they must clean out sick wards and upgrade wards in accordance with requirements for infectious respiratory disease prevention and control. Designated hospitals and backup hospitals must sufficiently prepare wards, medicines and equipment, test kits, sterile instruments, and protective materials, to create the conditions needed to treat patients in an orderly and effective way.

III. Strengthen the care and management of suspected and confirmed cases

County-level hospitals must fully make use of medical consortiums, and carry out case management correctly in accordance with the plan on diagnosis and treatment of novel coronavirus pneumonia. In suspected cases that fit case definition, as soon as possible carry out treatment in isolation and collect respiratory or blood specimen to carry out nucleic acid testing for the novel coronavirus to further clarify the diagnosis. County-level hospitals that do not have the capacity for testing can send specimen for testing at county (district) CDCs, city CDCs or higher-level hospitals that belong to medical consortiums which do have the conditions in place for testing. Suspected and confirmed cases must, according to the requirements of the Work Plan for Transport of Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Cases (Provisional) issued by the Commission, transferring them to designated hospitals for concentrated treatment.

IV. Do a good job of contagion prevention and control in hospitals

County-level hospitals must strictly implement and observe the requirements contained in the technical guide on novel coronavirus prevention and control in medical agencies, the guide on the scope of use of common medical protection in protecting against pneumonia from the novel coronavirus, etc., issued by the Commission, and must effectively carry out hospital infection measures, including control isolation protection, hand hygiene, ward management, environment disinfection and waste management, etc., and strengthen the personal protection of medical personnel, to strictly prevent against the event of hospital infection.

V. Strengthen the training of medical personnel

All provincial level health administration departments must act strictly in accordance with the requirements of the plan on diagnosis and treatment of novel coronavirus pneumonia as well as the relevant technical guides, arrange for and operate comprehensive training on novel coronavirus pneumonia prevention and control in county-level hospitals, prioritise training for medical personnel on knowledge about diagnosis and treatment and on work procedures, and raise consciousness about the need for early discovery and early diagnosis, level of ability in relation to medical treatment, and hospital infection prevention and control capacity. Make full use of the role of lead hospitals in medical consortiums, utilize methods such as at-station training, on-site guidance, and remote medicine, and increase guidance for the lower-level medical agencies within consortiums.

VI. Step up the degree of safeguards for county-level hospitals in poor areas

All provincial-level health administration departments must further step up the level of support for county-level hospitals in poor areas, strengthen assurances of material resources and overall arrangements for medical resources, deploy the necessary protective items, medical equipment and medical forces, and ensure that county-level hospitals in poor areas have basic medical treatment capacity to meet the people’s medical needs.

General Office of the National Health Commission

January 28, 2020