Renji to close its temporary COVID-19 ward
Renji Hospital's temporary COVID division will cease to exist after the last COVID-19 patient was discharged.
Since the resurgence of the pandemic in December, the hospital in the Pudong New Area had converted its orthopaedic and ENT wards on the fifth floor of its surgery building into a temporary section to deal with critical COVID-19 patients.
The section was run by a group of doctors from the general practice department. In the last 40 days, they had helped 91 critically ill patients.
Approximately 88 percent of the patients were over 60 years old. There were 31 patients over the age of 80.
The last patient was a 63-year-old male who was admitted to the hospital on December 31 for respiratory failure and a high temperature.
On January 10, he was moved to the ICU, and subsequently to the interim COVID ward.
The patient gifts a banner and a letter of gratitude to the Renji Hospital staff for saving his life.
"The patient's condition had deteriorated due to an intestinal bacterial infection, followed by multiple organ issues," said Dr Meng Chao, vice director of general practice.
The patient was discharged after spending 38 days in the hospital.
The ward will now resume normal operations, and all doctors will return to their respective departments and posts, the hospital said.
"With the end of the COVID-19 peak, the hospital will resume routine operations. Last week, our outpatient and surgery numbers were 80 percent normal. In the meantime, we will stay on alert for any resurgence," Mou Shan, a hospital official, said.
Most city-level hospitals in Shanghai have now discontinued their dedicated COVID sections, and doctors on the front-lines have returned to their regular positions. Surgery and other services that had been halted due to the pandemic have also gradually resumed.
