Photo: Xinhua

 
The Chinese National Health Commission has sent a group of medical experts to Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to help contain an outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, according to a press conference held by Xinjiang’s health authorities on Thursday, local media outlet ts.cn reported.

Lu Chen, an official with Xinjiang’s health authorities said the top level medical experts have participated in epidemic control in many places including Central China’s Hubei Province.

Xinjiang also dispatched medical experts in pneumology, intensive care, psychology, laboratory work, and imagology to work with other medical experts.

The experts examined 20 COVID-19 patients on Wednesday, and provided suggestions and detailed treatment plans.

“More experts in different sectors will be included if follow-up treatment is needed,” Lu said.

Eighteen new COVID-19 cases were reported in Xinjiang on Wednesday, which includes 16 asymptomatic cases. Twenty-four new asymptomatic cases were also reported on Wednesday, officials said at the press conference.

As of midnight on Wednesday, 82 cases were reported in Xinjiang, and 3,284 of their close contacts are under medical observation. Urumqi, the region’s capital, has 80 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 77 asymptomatic cases.

Shang Yulan, deputy secretary-general of the Urumqi government, said that 10 medical teams from other provinces and 24 nucleic acid testing agencies have been at work since the recent outbreak of COVID-19 in Xinjiang that began on July 15.

As of midnight on Wednesday, more than 1.6 million samples have been collected in Urumqi, covering all high-risk regions in the city.

Global Times