Photo: Courtesy of Shanghai Children's Medical Center

Shanghai has improved care services for COVID-19 infected children and will now allow parents to accompany them when receiving treatment, a move to provide better psychological care for children, following heated discussions over infected children's treatment.

How infected children should be treated has triggered wide attention from the public. For infect children who have special needs, their legal guardians can apply voluntarily to accompany them after signing an informed commitment, the authorities said on Wednesday.

When treating COVID-19 infected children, we should not only comply with related regulations and prevention and control requirements, but also consider their actual needs for special care, Wu Qianyu, an official from Shanghai health authorities, said at Wednesday's press briefing 

The city has strengthened medical forces to ensure infected children receive normative observation and treatment and a special ward, said Wu, noting that family-friendly treatment is good for children's recovery.

A family-friendly COVID-19 ward has been launched at the makeshift hospital in the Shanghai New International Expo Center. And nearly 1,000 beds in the ward have been taken, a working staff told the Global Times on Wednesday on the condition of anonymity. A medical team of 59 members from the Shanghai Children's Medical Center will be responsible for the treatment and care of this ward.

On Wednesday, parents and medical workers tried to keep their voices as low as possible so that the children can study carefully. The children were actively participating in classes online, a video sent to the Global Times showed. After class, children and their parents were playing games together. 

Medical staff from Shanghai Children's Medical Center also prepared a printer and other studying tools to meet children's needs. 

The medical team also provided a guidance manual for each family, which summarizes the physical and psychological characteristics of children at all ages and guides parents to educate and cultivate children's safe behaviors.  

A guidance manual for each family Photo: Coutesty of the Shanghai Children's Medical Center

Zhang Fen, nursing leader of the medical team, said that every parent should pay attention to the protection of children from accidental injuries during special periods, especially in makeshift hospitals.  

Starting on Monday evening, ambulances carrying children with mild COVID-19 and asymptomatic infections have arrived at the center one after another. They were accompanied by their parents and entered the center in an orderly manner under the guidance of the working staff.

Parents who meet the requirements to accompany their children should strictly abide by the management regulations and take personal protection measures, such as wearing masks, eating at different times and not sharing daily commodities with their children, Wu said.