(Eagle News) — A case of a coronavirus patient cured of the disease on Friday in east China’s Zhejiang Province is bringing hope to thousands of patients afflicted with the deadly virus, and could serve as a guide for doctors treating patients infected with the virus.
The case of a 46-year old patient who was only identified by his surname Yang is said to be the first coronavirus patient in the province to be cured, according to China Global Television Network (CGTN).
In a video tweeted by CGTN, it said that the man had been undergoing treatment in the hospital for a week before he was declared cured on Friday and allowed to be released.
The man, who had been living in Wuhan for a long time, first developed the symptoms — fever and headache — after leaving Wuhan on Jan. 3.
The patient’s brother who was interviewed by CGTN said that they reported the case at the initial stage. The patient said he received round-the-clock proper care.
-Early treatment crucial-
A doctor at the hospital in Zhejiang where the patient was treated said that there is still cause for hope regarding the coronavirus as it can be treated with proper care at the initial stages.
“All we need is to take precautions and protect ourselves,” said Dr. Dai Jianyi, chief physician at the hospital, in an interview by CGTN which it has posted in its twitter account.
“It is of guiding significance to our further course of action in treating other patients,” he said.
“So there’s no need for people to panic,” he added.
CGTN is a Chinese international English-language news channel of the state-owned China Global Television Network group, which is part of Beijing-based China Central Television and under the control of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China.
It was formerly known as CCTV-9 and CCTV News.
At least 444 new cases of the virus have been found in China, raising the total number of cases to 1,287, the National Health Commission said in a separate statement.
The disease has spread to 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.
Wuhan and 13 other cities in Hubei have been locked down in an unprecedented quarantine effort aimed at containing the deadly respiratory contagion, which has spread to several other countries.
The Hubei Health Commission also reported 180 new cases overall in the province, 77 of them in Wuhan but the bulk of the rest spread out across the locked-down smaller cities. There are now 729 cases in Hubei alone.
Several of those cities were reporting their first cases of the pathogen — 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) — the commission said.
(with a report from Agence France Presse)