Young patient's picture illustrates her gratitude

There are countless ways to say thank you, and for 10-year-old Guo Zhenxi that meant drawing a picture to express her gratitude to the doctors and nurses from Wuhan, Hubei province.

"This is a picture that I drew for Wuhan. I want to thank Wuhan, and all the cities and provinces lending us a helping hand," said the Grade 4 student.

After testing positive, Zhenxi and her mother were taken to the Shanghai New International Expo Center-turned quarantine site on April 5. In the large makeshift hospital with 15,000 beds, Zhenxi felt pretty good and comfortable staying there.

The hospital set aside a parent-child section to allow infectious children like Zhenxi to stay with their family members during quarantine. There were about 263 families living in this section as of Monday, according to China News Service.

Titled Fighting! Shanghai! Thanks to Wuhan giving a helping hand, Zhenxi's drawing depicts the moment two female doctors from Wuhan Children's Hospital took a photo with her and a boy patient.

"I want to be a doctor when I grow up, so I can treat and help lots of patients," Zhenxi said.

Zhenxi's mother, Yang Yang, was also touched by the hardworking medical staff in the hospital.

She said that at nearly 3 am on Sunday, when she woke up to get more water for her daughter's hot water bottle, she found that medical team members were still wearing protective suits on duty, caring for the temporary residents in the makeshift hospital.

"I kept telling my child that the virus is not that horrible, and this should be a precious memory of her life," said Yang.

The first group of 39 child patients, holding gifted toys, were released from this hospital on Tuesday, after two consecutive negative nucleic acid tests.

The children's section is mainly for asymptomatic kids or those with mild symptoms and their parents. The medical team will conduct a comprehensive appraisal for each child before they leave hospital, according to Wenhui Daily.

Zhenxi and her mother will stay for a few more days in the hospital, which is partly managed by medical teams from 50 institutions in Hubei province.

On April 6, 51 doctors, nurses and experts from Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University in Hubei province took charge of more than 1,300 patients with mild symptoms at the makeshift hospital.

Members of the medical team are responsible for identifying patients' conditions, providing effective treatment, reassuring them emotionally, constantly communicating with them and helping keep their spirits up.

When Wuhan was hit by COVID-19 two years ago, Zhongnan Hospital was in charge of the city's largest makeshift hospital－Wuhan Parlor Makeshift Hospital－and a medical team from Shanghai was among the first to arrive to support Hubei province, said Li Zhiqiang, vice-president of Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, who was also leader of the medical aid team from the hospital.

"Coming from the city that received help from Shanghai previously, now it is time for us to make our contribution to Shanghai," he said.