Protection for Medical Workers Confronting the Challenges During the COVID-19 Outbreak-A Case of China

The COVID-19 outbreak is a major public health emergency initially occurred in Hubei, the epicenter in China, and then it rapidly turned into a global pandemic with much more than fi ve million infected cases 28 May, 2020 [1]. Thanks to the joint efforts from all parties, especially the great contributions from Chinese medical workers, China’s domestic situation has improved signifi cantly, while it remains severe in the rest of world.


Dear Editors
The COVID-19 outbreak is a major public health emergency initially occurred in Hubei, the epicenter in China, and then it rapidly turned into a global pandemic with much more than fi ve million infected cases 28 May, 2020 [1]. Thanks to the joint efforts from all parties, especially the great contributions from Chinese medical workers, China's domestic situation has improved signifi cantly, while it remains severe in the rest of world.
As a matter of fact, this sudden outbreak has become an enormous challenge for healthcare workers worldwide.
According to data from the centers for disease control and  [2,3].
As a novel virus, COVID-19 is extremely infectious with confi rmed human-to-human transmission and 2-week incubation period [4]. Asymptomatic carriers during incubation can also be potentially contagious [5]. There are various factors conducive to the high infection risk: the large-scale human migration over the Chinese Spring Festival, the fact that patients characterized with mild symptoms fl ooded into hospitals in panic [6] and most importantly, the large demand of personal protective equipment (PPE) greatly exceeded the supply. However, even in this situation, over 42000 health workers called "countermarching people" answered to the call swiftly to assist Hubei province [7]. More than 3000 local medical workers there have been infected, 40% of which are infected in hospitals and most of them are not physicians specialized in infectious diseases [8] . All Health-Care Workers(HCWs) suffered from physical pressure and psychological torment due to overloaded work, the sense of powerlessness of the COVID-19 epidemic, witnessing death of patients and comrades-in-arm, and so on [9]. Some nurses resolutely cut their hair short to reduce the risk of viral infection. A front-line nurse cannot attend her mother's funeral back in hometown, and all she could do at this critical time was to bow in the direction of home.
During the fi ght against the epidemic, the medical groups have played a landmark role. Prof. Zhong Nanshan,84 years old and the leading hero combating SARS, was the fi rst to confi rm human-to-human transmission. The epidemic whistle blower, Dr. Li Wenliang, who was on the front line to save patients even after being warned, was ended up collapsing on his job. COVID-19 cannot be contained without prioritizing the safety of HCWs. Undoubtedly, our concern and admiration for HCWs should not be limited to this epidemic, but be institutionalized and normalized. The gratitude to medical staff is supposed to render into our respect, understanding, and trust in daily life.
It is worth noting that so far, none of the more than 42,000 HCWs in the Hubei medical team has been infected [3]. We hope that China's medical supplies and experience can be helpful in control strategies, clinical monitoring, treatment and rehabilitation, and protecting healthcare workers from mental problems. With infectious cases increasing sustainably and medical pressure brought by the epidemic, the need for HCWs' protection should have a corresponding increase. In addition to strictly adherance to the principles of safety and disinfection, regular virus tests should be performed no matter the individual has the symptoms or not. We fi rmly believe that China and the world will be empowered to contain and eradicate COVID-19 eventually. Even after the outbreak is ended, our care for healthcare workers should still continue and the protection system for them should be improved. Only in this way, we humanity with healthcare workers will be more confi dent and courageous in the face of more dangerous human diseases in the future.