Female community workers select and pack goods for residents of a building kept in quarantine during the novel coronavirus outbreak in Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi Province, Feb. 5, 2020. (Xinhua/Peng Zhaozhi)

As of Monday, the death toll from the outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) surpassed 1,000 in the Chinese mainland. The figure makes Chinese people sad and also shows the epidemic remains very serious. As Chinese society has been taking all possible measures to prevent and control the NCP, one of the most important tasks right now is to save the severely ill patients and reduce the mortality rate.

We have to admit that our understanding of the NCP remains insufficient. The incubation period of the coronavirus is relatively long - as experts have indicated that in some cases, it could last up to 24 days - and thus there could be much trouble for our investigation and control. However, as long as we use scientific measures to greatly lower the mortality rate, we will not be far from success.

At present, many prominent Chinese doctors have gathered in Wuhan, the epicenter of the NCP in Central China's Hubei Province. It is time to really test China's medical treatment level. The country has been employing every effective measure in hand to treat and cure the patients, including traditional Chinese medicine therapy and the combination of Chinese and Western medicines. At the same time, China is also cooperating with experts from the World Health Organization and some medical R&D institutions in other countries and regions. We are at a crucial stage in fighting the NCP.

Wuhan has faced a situation where there are not enough wards and many patients cannot be properly treated. But such a situation has been relieved, as the government has added more hospital beds in the designated hospitals, and the newly built Huoshenshan Hospital and Leishenshan Hospital have received coronavirus-infected patients. An additional 9,600 beds have been made available in the three already operational makeshift hospitals and other medical facilities renovated from school buildings to receive and treat confirmed patients with mild symptoms.

A team of prominent specialists have been sent to Wuhan to make sure that severely ill patients are scientifically treated. Reducing the mortality rate is a top priority for them. Tongji Hospital in Wuhan and other top hospitals on Sunday jointly released a document on the diagnosis, treatment and management of the severely ill patients. In the document, antiviral drugs have been added to further treat these patients. Data released by China's National Health Commission on Monday shows that the cure rate for patients in Wuhan had increased from 2.6 percent on January 27 to 6.2 percent.

Judging from outbreaks of the influenza and some serious infectious diseases in recent years, the mortality rate of the NCP is not the highest. It is even lower than the mortality rate of influenza in many developed countries. 

This shows that the Chinese government attaches great importance to people's lives. China's prevention and control efforts are the strongest. We hope that relevant parties will adjust corresponding preventive measures based on the progress of the epidemic, especially the change in mortality rate.