Two employees in a TCM store in Dongyang, East China's Zhejiang Province, measure herbal medicine on October 31, 2018. File Photo: VCG

 Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has always played an important role in the clinical treatment of COVID-19, an official from China's Ministry of Science and Technology said at a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday. 

The group of experts working on clinical treatment has proposed three formulas and three medicines to help relieve patients' coronavirus symptoms, and it has been proved to have played an important role in curing the disease, Wu Yuanbin, director of the department of social development of the Ministry, said. 

The state council has set up four expert groups to explore the application of TCM in the COVID-19 treatment. The research team found that the three formulas and the three TCM medicines can help patients adjust their overall bodies and participate in the processes of immunity, anti-inflammatory, and the endocrine function. 

It can also help ease the symptoms of cytokine storm syndrome (CSS), according to Wu. 

"There is a huge difference between the group administered with TCM medicines and those that are not," Wu said. 

The expert groups are currently working on the application of TCM in asymptomatic virus carriers and the prevention of COVID-19 spread after the resumption of work. 

Global Times