2020-03-12_Beijing_Review

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24 BEIJING REVIEW MARCH 12, 2020 http://www.bjreview.com


NATION


T

he Huazhong University of Science and
Technology (HUST) in Wuhan, Hubei
Province in central China, has been in
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against the novel coronavirus.
HUST is a leading comprehensive univer-
sity under the administration of the Ministry of
Education. It is the university that has devoted
the largest number of hospital beds and the
most medical workers to the fight against
the virus, said Shao Xinyu, Secretary of the
Communist Party of China Committee of HUST,
on February 21, in an interview with China
Central Television.
Experts in public health and preventive
medicine, a leading subject at HUST, have made
great contributions in combating the virus, pro-
viding professional suggestions to central and


Taking Up


Responsibilities


A university in Wuhan has remained at the forefront of emergencies


from floods to epidemics By Zhi Mo


local governments regarding epidemic analysis,
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popularization.

A strong fortress
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have been designated to treat infected patients,
providing 33,000 medical workers and more
than 8,900 beds.
Of the 10 hospitals, the Union and Tongji
hospitals are designated for critically infected
patients. Four hospitals are designated for
patients from certain areas. Three are for
infected children, pregnant women and men-
tally challenged people, and one hospital has
sent medical personnel to Wuhan’s temporary
hospitals.
Doctors in the Union Hospital are among

the earliest to fight the virus. On January 20,
Zhong Nanshan, a renowned respiratory sci-
entist, announced that 14 medical workers in
Wuhan were infected by the virus. All of them
are from the Union Hospital.
However, the news did not deter other
doctors. On January 27, a doctor in the Union
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expense of my own life.” This line has later been
frequently quoted by other volunteer medical
workers in their applications.
Zhu Bin, another doctor from the infectious
disease department of the Union Hospital, was
studying at a Shanghai hospital when the epi-
demic broke out. In late January, he decided to
end his studies early to return to Wuhan. Since
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celed as part of epidemic control, Zhu had to
take a plane to Changsha, capital of neighboring
Hunan Province, and then a taxi to Wuhan. The
whole trip took him two days.
These affiliated hospitals have also been
offering online consulting services and develop-
ing diagnosis and treatment guidelines.
On January 21, the Tongji Hospital formu-
lated a quick diagnosis and treatment guideline
for clinical practices in Hubei.
On January 24, the fever outpatient de-
partment of the hospital opened an online
outpatient service. The number of inquiries on
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laboratory for the virus in Hubei was established
at the Union Hospital.
The pathology team from the Department
of Forensic Medicine of Tongji Medical College
has carried out postmortem exams on nine
people who died of the disease to find its
pathogenesis and provide reference for future
treatment.
The Institute of State Governance of HUST
has conducted comprehensive research into
virus prevention and control and the mod-

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College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, Hubei Province, on January 21


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