As part of the epidemic prevention and control, imported pneumonia patients in Beijing have been admitted to the Xiaotangshan Hospital in the city, where they will be treated with both traditional Chinese and Western medicine.

For Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), it is important to tailor prescriptions for the patients based on their conditions, the place and time, said Yuan Qing, chief physician of the respiratory department at the Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Yuan has led a team to provide assistance at the Xiaotangshan Hospital, with the priority to see how the patients feel about receiving TCM treatment.

Over half of the patients had no idea of traditional Chinese medicine before they were treated, according to Yuan. “After they learned about Traditional Chinese Medicine, they became more than willing to receive TCM treatment,” said Yuan, adding that many patients were amazed at the effect of the traditional medicine.

Yuan would examine the patients first, recommend them to look up TCM and the novel coronavirus on the Internet, and then give prescriptions. Yuan and other team members also explain to the patients how TCM works with data, which suits westerners’ way of thinking.

In the future, Yuan’s team will mainly stick with traditional medicine, supplemented with other TCM recovering methods, such as cupping therapy and Baduanjin, a form of medical qigong meant to improve health.

Meanwhile, the team members will also conduct psychological intervention to infuse more confidence into the patients in combating the epidemic.