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

Lianhua Qingwen (LH) capsule, a Chinese herbal product, has been included in Beijing's COVID-19 Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) prevention and control program, which means that the capsule can be used to support other treatments for adult patients and those under medical observation. 

Beijing TCM authorities issued a document on a revised program on COVID-19 prevention and treatment on Tuesday in response to the capital city's new epidemic outbreak, which has led to 137 confirmed cases as of press time. 

According to the document, LH can alleviate COVID-19 symptoms such as fever, cough and fatigue, and is therefore recommended for the treatment of COVID-19 patients and their close contacts. 

As a TCM that contains 13 herbs, including lonicera japonica, forsythia suspense and rhodiola rosea, LH has been marketed since the SARS epidemic in China in2003. It has been widely used in the country to treat various infectious diseases, such as SARS and H1N1. 

Chinese academician Zhang Boli highlighted the inhibiting effect LH has on COVID-19 and recommended using the product in the prevention and control of the disease amid the fight against the epidemic in March. 

The product's safety and efficacy in relieving COVID-19 symptoms and increasing the cure rate of patients with mild symptoms were later proven in clinical trials conducted by hospitals across the country under the leadership of Zhang, together with top respiratory disease expert Zhong Nanshan and renowned epidemiologist Li Lanjuan, in May. 

During the pandemic outbreak, the TCM has been brought by Chinese medical teams to several countries, including Italy and Iraq, to support the treatment of COVID-19 patients. 

China's white paper on fighting the COVID-19 epidemic published on June 7 also recognized the positive role played by TCM, represented by LH capsule, in reducing the rates of patients' conditions becoming severe and speeding up their recovery from the virus.