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No cure but China offers pointers on Wuhan coronavirus treatment
- Traditional Chinese medicine and artificial lungs could be used in some cases, National Health Commission says
- Authorities outline quarantine restrictions for confirmed and suspected cases
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Kinling Loin Beijing
With no cure to offer, China’s top health body has advised hospitals to use a range of treatments – including traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and “artificial lungs” – to tackle a deadly coronavirus.
In guidelines published on Thursday afternoon, the National Health Commission advised that suspected cases be isolated.
“Confirmed cases can be put in the same ward. Critical patients need to be put into intensive care as soon as possible,” the commission said.
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Patients requiring “basic treatment” should be given supplemental oxygen and antiviral medication.
The new coronavirus, officially named 2019-nCoV, emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year and has killed 17 people.
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It belongs to the same family of infections as severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers), with patients suffering from pneumonia-like symptoms.
More than 30 people diagnosed with the illness were reported to have recovered and had been discharged from Chinese hospitals, Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily reported on Thursday.
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