China coronavirus: crowds and confusion on the hospital front lines of outbreak

South China Morning Post ^ | Published: 9:00am, 23 Jan, 2020 Updated: 1:03pm, 23 Jan, 2020 | Echo Xie in Beijing

[Zhang Fei]

At Xiehe Hospital in the central Chinese city of Wuhan on Wednesday afternoon, hundreds of patients waited eagerly at the fever ward wanting to see a doctor.

Many of them had symptoms of pneumonia but few got what they wanted – admission and free treatment in a quarantined environment.

Xiehe is one of the dozen hospitals in the city designated to treat patients who may have contracted the coronavirus that has already killed 17 people and sickened hundreds of others.

While officials said they had stepped up quarantine of patients, including those suspected of being infected, the overcrowded fever ward at Xiehe reflected the struggle for hospitals to cope with the surge of people with pneumonia symptoms.

On one side of the fever ward, a relative of a 55-year-old man said a doctor told her the hospital was full and she should take the man home, even though he had a fever and other symptoms . “I almost got down on my knees to beg the doctor to admit him so he could stay in the hospital but the doctor said there was no space,” she said.

She was one of about 100 patients packing the ward’s waiting area, forming long queues outside the three consultation rooms. While the doctors and nurses were equipped with full-gear protective clothing, many patients only had face masks as they were hooked up to intravenous drips. Some patients coughed and spat openly in the hallway.

A young woman who gave her name as Luo said her 48-year-old father had had a fever for more than a week and was transferred to Xiehe on Tuesday but not admitted. An X-ray showed a shadow on his lungs but he had not been formally diagnosed with the coronavirus.

[Zhang Fei]

Hawking up loogies on hospital floors. Nice. I recall that when Deng Xiaoping showed up in DC, he brought along his own personal spittoon.

[AU72]

I read that the incubation period is 14 days which is not good.

[xenia]

I have a great concern about what goes on and is created in laboratories around the world and the possible lack of safety. There is an Institute of Virology in Wuhan. Check it out.

[11th_VA]

Well, if they didn’t have it when they went in, they will when they leave

[fruser1]

Some grizzly bear claws should take care of this.

[Trailerpark Badass]

More tiger penis.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

AU72 :" I read that the incubation period is 14 days which is not good."

I had seen else where that it was 10 days for incubation.
But no where have I seen any information about when the virus becomes communicable
and can then infect others.

[SeekAndFind]

LATEST INFECTION MAP ( DOES NOT INCLUDE POSSIBLE CASES FOUND IN SCOTLAND AND IRELAND )

[Paul R.]

This goes straight to your excellent observations / comments about quarantine sociology, here:

https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3810294/posts?page=17#17

[Zhang Fei]

[This goes straight to your excellent observations / comments about quarantine sociology, here:

https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3810294/posts?page=17#17]

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The government has no solution. Putting people on saline IV’s is not a solution. And people who weren’t infected before might just get the bug at the hospital, while being tested, from being around people who are.

Every hypochondriac within a hundred mile radius who thinks of the Party as a substitute parent is probably showing up at area hospitals and risking a genuine infection where none had existed before. Real butterfly effect stuff being played out before us.