3.1 Characteristics of COVID-19 patients
A total of 55 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were included in this
study, with a median age of patients was 45 years (IQR: 32-58). Among
confirmed cases, 31 were female, which accounted for 56.4%, followed by
24 male cases for 43.6%.
The median duration from disease onset to hospital admission was 2 (IQR:
1-5) days, with a median of 19 days from illness onset to hospital
discharge (IQR: 16-25.5). As shown in Table 1, 80% (44/55) of the
COVID-19 patients were non-severe (mild to moderate cases), and 20%
(11/55) were severe cases. The most common symptoms at onset of the
disease were fever (76.4%) and non-productive cough (38.2%). 13
patients had underlying diseases, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular
diseases, endocrine disease, gastrointestinal disease, respiratory
disease and neurological disorder.
On admission, 5 patients had leucopenia (leucocyte count count
<4×109/L). 15 patients had increases
proportion of neutrophils (>70%), and 7 patients showed
elevated lymphocyte percentage (>40%). Abnormalities in
chest computed tomograms (CT) were detected in 44 patients (80%). The
most pattern of CT changes was high-density shadow (61.4%).
All patients received standard care including supportive and antiviral
treatment according to the latest clinical guidelines (NHCPRC, 2020a;
NHCPRC, 2020b; NHCPRC, 2020c). Antibiotics were only prescribed to
patients who were at risk of presented with bacterial infection.
Patients with symptoms of respiratory distress received oxygen therapy.
Corticosteroids were used shortly to inhibit inflammatory cascade in
patients with progressing disease. Critically ill patients were
transferred to intensive care unit. More detailed information was
reported in Table 1 .