Zhang Jixian: the First Doctor to Report Novel Coronavirus

(The Fight Against COVID-19)

Updated:2020-03-13 | By:China.org.cn

Zhang Jixian: the First Doctor to Report Novel Coronavirus

Zhang Jixian is director of the Respiratory and Intensive Care Unit of Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine. She was a member of the Expert Group of Jianghan District of Wuhan during the SARS outbreak in 2003. With an extremely acute professional awareness, Zhang was the first person to make the correct diagnosis and insist on reporting the epidemic to the higher authorities. She was the first to sound the alarm for the prevention of the virus.

On December 27, 2019, Zhang Jixian was surprised to find that three of her patients – the parents and the son – had similar CT images of their lungs. As the results of various influenza-related tests on these three patients were all negative, she immediately alerted the hospital chief to this situation, who forwarded her report to the Jianghan District Center for Disease Control and Prevention. In the following two days, the hospital received another three patients with similar symptoms and lung photos, and Zhang reported this to the hospital again, thus becoming the first doctor to report the COVID-19 epidemic.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, Zhang was responsible for the treatment of critically ill patients with a very heavy workload. She arrived at the hospital at 7:30 every morning, knowing that a hectic schedule awaited her to make the rounds of the wards and formulate diagnosis and treatment schemes. She was often heavily occupied until after 10 o'clock at night. 

Due to her timely discovery and adequate preparation, no medical staff in Zhang's department has been infected with the virus and no cross-infection has occurred among her patients. Zhang was awarded a merit for her outstanding performance in the fight against the epidemic on February 4 by the Human Resources and Social Security Department and the Health Committee of Hubei Province.

张继先:疫情上报“第一人”

张继先,湖北省中西医结合医院呼吸与重症医学科主任,在非典疫情防治期间曾担任武汉市江汉区专家组成员。她以超强的专业意识,最早判断并坚持上报新冠肺炎疫情,在中国率先拉响了疫情防控警报。

2019年12月27日,张继先发现接诊的病人中有一家三口肺部CT检查结果显示肺部表现相同,在给患者做了各项流感相关检查结果呈阴性后,她立即向医院做了情况汇报,并由医院上报给江汉区疾控中心。随后两天,医院门诊又收治了3名症状和肺部表现一致的患者,张继先再次上报给医院,由此成为此次新冠肺炎疫情上报的“第一人”。

新冠肺炎疫情防控期间,作为呼吸内科主任,张继先负责危重患者救治,工作量非常大。她每天七点半到医院,查房了解病情,制定诊疗方案,经常忙到晚上十点以后。由于发现及时、准备充分,张继先所在科室做到了无一例医护人员感染和无一例患者交叉感染。2020年2月4日,湖北省人力资源和社会保障厅、湖北省卫生健康委员会决定给予在疫情防控期间表现突出的张继先记大功奖励。