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 .