The last two of 98 patients hospitalized with corona virus disease (COVID-19) in Zhuhai had returned to health and were released from the 5th Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University on the morning of March 10.

Zhuhai Party Secretary Guo Yonghang and Mayor Yao Yisheng were present as the two patients were discharged and they also visited frontline medical workers the same day.

As of midnight March 10, zero new confirmed case of COVID-19 had been reported for 22 consecutive days marking the city's achievement in epidemic prevention and control at the current stage. One of the 98 reportedly died, and meanwhile 15 close contacts are still under medical observation, the Health Commission of Guangdong Province reported Wednesday.

Two COVID-19 patients, in front row, are discharged from hospital on March 10 [Photo by Ye Qiuming & Li Jianshu / Guanhai App]

As the designated city treatment center for the virus, the 5th Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University has assembled multi-disciplinary expert teams for group consultation and diagnosis and developed comprehensive treatment plans.

It was the first among its peers in Guangdong to report locally transmitted cases and positive testing results of fecal samples for the virus, and conduct clinical trials of chloroquine to combat the disease. Moreover, the first critical case, a 76-year-old male, and the youngest patient in the province, a 10-month-old, had been treated and released.

Zhuhai's recovery and discharge rate are higher than average for Guangdong Province, while many treatment plans and management measures have been promoted throughout the province and even nationwide, noted Li Zhonghe, vice president of the hospital.

Nonetheless, measures are still to be taken to prevent imported COVID-19 cases from other virus-hit countries and regions. Residents should continue to wear protective masks when going out, wash hands frequently, and avoid gatherings, advised the city's COVID-19 Epidemic Prevention & Control Command Center.