BEIJING: Unlike the ordeal at the onset of the COVID-19 epidemic three years ago, Wuhan resident Huang Jianmei was not in a state of panic after getting infected with the Omicron variant this time.
Huang caught a cough, but the symptom was mild. She took some medicine and recovered, without going to the hospital. She has completed a full course of vaccination against COVID-19 including a booster shot.
“Owing to nearly three years of epidemic control efforts nationwide, the diagnosis and treatment have been optimized. The virus is not as destructive as before,” said Huang, 50.
Huang lost her husband to the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020, but she, her son, and her daughter, who were all infected, survived.
Huang was in a critical state and was first transferred from a quarantine site to a designated COVID-19 hospital. She was then moved to Huoshenshan Hospital, which was temporarily built for treating COVID-19 cases. After about two months of treatment, she was discharged upon recovery.
As one of the first critical patients who successfully recovered after treatment, Huang has participated in a national clinical treatment and research project on stem cells since her recovery.
“Without the help of my country and medical staff, I would not have had a second life. Therefore, I would like to play an active role in helping other patients,” she said.
To contain the epidemic in Wuhan in early 2020, more than 40,000 medics from across the country rushed to the central Chinese city as part of the largest mobilization of medical resources since the founding of New China. Thanks to the resolute efforts of the medical personnel, over 3,000 COVID-19 patients aged 80 and above were cured.
Since securing the strategic outcomes in the battle to defend Hubei Province and its capital city of Wuhan, China has effectively tackled more than 100 cluster infections over the past three years, fighting different variants of the virus including the Delta and Omicron strains, and upholding the principle of putting people’s lives and health above everything else.
In 2022 alone, a number of centenarians fully recovered from COVID-19 infections after medical treatment. –Agencies
