BEIJING, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been widely applied in treating the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients in China as it has proved effective in improving the cure rate.

"I had difficulty breathing when I was seriously ill. After administering a few doses of a TCM decoction, my difficulty breathing and cough were relieved and the computerized tomography (CT) scan results also noticeably improved," said a 64-year-old COVID-19 patient who was admitted to Beijing Ditan Hospital on Jan. 20.

"Since the admission of the first COVID-19 case at our hospital, medical professionals from the TCM department have been engaging in the treatment process," said Wang Xianbo, a specialist at Beijing Ditan Hospital.

Wang said TCM proved effective in reducing symptoms of fever, cough and tiredness in mild cases and in greatly improving some severe cases when used in combination with Western medicine.

The TCM administration in east China's Zhejiang said none of the patients at the designated hospitals in the province had developed to severe cases after the timely application of TCM.

TCM has also been found helpful in COVID-19 prevention and used to protect key populations such as medical personnel against infection.

At the Mianyang Hospital of TCM in southwest China's Sichuan Province, TCM was applied to 18 medical workers who had close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 patient, resulting in no infection among them during the qurantine period.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the Chinese central authorities have on many occasions highlighted the application of TCM combined with Western medicine in treating patients.

According to the National Administration of TCM, medical expert teams in 31 provincial-level regions all include TCM specialists, with most of the regions having made localized TCM treatment schemes for the disease.