Man on blood pumping machine discharged

A 62-year-old COVID-19 patient who had been kept alive for 111 days by an ECMO machine was discharged on Thursday from the hospital in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

The male patient, who was transferred to The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University from another hospital on Feb 4, was sent to the intensive care unit and connected to the ECMO on Feb 9. ECMO machines oxygenate and pump a patient's blood.

The man was overweight and had cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure and other basic health problems, adding many difficulties to his treatment, said Zhong Nanshan, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Zhong made this remarks at a ceremony organized by the hospital to celebrate the patient's recovery.

The man, who is 169 centimeters tall, weighs more than 95 kilograms, said Zhong, a leading respiratory disease expert. The patient did not want to be named.

The patient had also relied on a respirator for 150 days said had become unconscious when he was connected to the ECMO. But he gradually began to regain consciousness, Zhong said.

"Many of my foreign counterparts say the treatment as a medical miracle when a patient can be cured after being on an ECMO for 111 days and relying on a respirator for 150 days," Zhong said he was told by overseas medical experts and doctors during video conferences on fighting COVID-19.

The man is the first COVID-19 patient to be saved by the use of an ECMO for 111 days and with a respirator for 150 days. That is rarely seen in the world, he said.

In previous months, Zhong said, his team never gave up trying to save lives, and medical staff members took turn looking after the patient.

Zhong himself asked about the patient's condition and guided the man's treatment every day.

"As long as there is a glimmer of hope, we do it at all costs," Zhong said.

Meanwhile Zhong urged residents not to look at the discharged COVID-19 patients differently. They are no different from other people after recovery, he said.

"Only a few of the patients might test positive for the coronavirus again after they have recovered and discharged, and residents should not panic," he added.

Meanwhile, Zhong unveiled a plaque on Thursday to kick off a special exhibition featuring the effort to stop COVID-19.

Zhong said the exhibition, which displays hundreds of pictures, videos and other objects related to the anti-pandemic fight demonstrate the selfless dedication and spirit of medical workers this year.

"When the country was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, medical staff members went to the front line to help treat patients and curtail the pandemic," he said.

Chinese medical workers put people's lives and health first during the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Zhong said.

The exhibition, which has been in preparation for more than three months, is designed to inform audiences about the real work and lives of the medical staff in the fight against the pandemic.