Zhong Nanshan, Photo: Xinhua

 
Chinese respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan has been recommended as a candidate for the “Medal of the Republic”, after the central government decided to award exemplary figures who have made outstanding contributions in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.

Zhang Boli, Chen Wei and Zhang Dingyu were recommended as candidates for the national honorary title.

The working committee for the granting of honors released the information on Monday to solicit public opinions.

Zhong has been playing a leading role in the fight against COVID-19 since the early stages of the epidemic. 

The introductory statement released by the committee said that after the COVID-19 epidemic, Zhong dared to speak up, proposed the phenomenon of “person-to-person transmission,” and placed great emphasis on strict prevention and control measures.

Zhong led the writing of diagnosis and treatment plans for the novel coronavirus, and made outstanding contributions in epidemic prevention and control, offered critical medical treatment and scientific research, the statement said.

Zhong is currently an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the Director of the National Respiratory Diseases Clinical Medicine Research Center at the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University. 

As a candidate for the national honorary title, Zhang Boli instructed on the use of traditional Chinese medicines in treating novel coronavirus, achieving remarkable results and making major contributions to the prevention and control of the epidemic.

Zhang Dingyu, who is a deputy head of the Hubei Provincial Health Commission and dean of Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, helped gain time by confirming the unknown pneumonia as the novel coronavirus.  

After receiving the first batch of seven patients with unexplained pneumonia on December 29 last year, Zhang Dingyu immediately set up isolation wards, took the lead in collecting samples for virus testing and organized donations. 

His actions gained time through the confirmation of the novel coronavirus, and created conditions for launching pathological research into COVID-19. 

Zhang aled staff of Jinyintan Hospital in treating more than 2,800 patients. He made significant contributions to winning the fight against the COVID-19 in Hubei Province and Wuhan.

Military infectious disease expert Chen Wei from the Institute of Biotechnology under the Academy of Military Medical Sciences has made contributions in basic research and vaccines against COVID-19.