Earlier, Zhang Zhongde, deputy head of the expert group for the prevention and control of COVID-19 of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, head of the second national TCM Team, and Vice President of the Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, said in an interview with the reporter that the current treatment of critical illness was still facing some difficulties, and all colleagues in the frontline of fighting the epidemic are still working hard.

"How to quickly and effectively improve the symptoms of dyspnea in critically ill patients, how to block the progression of disease, prevent patients from developing in the direction of multiple organ failure, reduce complications, block, reduce or shorten the cytokine storm, these problems are still the difficulties in the treatment of critically ill patients. "Zhang Zhongde said.

At a news conference held by the State Council Information Office, Jiao Yahui, Deputy Director General of Bureau of Medical Administration of National Health Committee, said that severe cases in Wuhan accounted for about 18% of all confirmed cases and hospitalized cases. Tong Zhaohui, Vice President of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, said that respiratory failure progressed rapidly and the heart was attacked very hard in patients with COVID-19. It is more difficult to treat these patients than the normal respiratory failure cases.

Facing common enemies and problems, Zhang Zhongde hopes to find out the answer through the collaboration between TCM and western medicine. "Modern medicine talks about the Cytokine storm. How can we use TCM to block, reduce or shorten it? What better way can we solve these problems? This is what TCM workers have been thinking about." Many experts’ opinions have been collected by the TCM team from Guangdong led by Zhang Zhongde through consultations and other methods to summarize clinical experience, analyze and study cases with unsatisfactory treatment effects, and adjust treatment plans at any time according to changes of the patient’s condition. After the consultation, the treatment effect of the patients has improved, and some patients have been discharged from the hospital.

"TCM recognizes that the epidemic situation is the 'epidemic' disease." Zhang Zhongde believes that many patients show dampness and toxin, some patients have combined with cold, and most patients have shown heat after dampness for a long time. He gave an example, "The patient on the 13th bed in the ward on the first day to the hospital was with difficulty breathing, increased heartbeat, low SATS, thick and yellow tongue coating, and constipation. We diagnosed the patient with dampness, toxin and heat, so we regulate qi of organs and cleared intestinal fever. The next day, the patient's tongue coating's thermal image was relieved, and other symptoms were also relieved. After that, we continued to dispel dampness, conduct detoxification, clear heat, and straighten up, and controlled the degree to prevent the patient from developing to critical case."

In COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment guideline, the TCM treatment of patients in the recovery period is unique. Zhang Zhongde said that through subsequent visits, they found that some patients still had lung qi deficiency, spleen qi deficiency, and some had a little residual heat after discharge. Although they had no cough or asthma, they still felt weak and tired, with bad appetite and sweating. Some were flustered and short of breath. “Diseases go away on foot. TCM will warm the lung and strengthen the spleen in response to these problems, while removing the pathogenic factor without hurting the healthy qi. ‘Tonification’ after recovery requires patience, step by step, to fully improve these symptoms and achieve full recovery. In this regard, TCM can also play a great role. "Zhang Zhongde said.