WUHAN — China has managed to improve the cure rate of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to 94 percent in the hardest-hit place in the country, central authorities said on April 10. 

Those cured include over 89 percent of the severely ill patients and more than 3,600 octogenarians or even older patients, said a central government group overseeing the epidemic response in the hardest-hit Hubei province.

The provincial capital Wuhan, the former epicenter, had only 101 COVID-19 patients being treated for severe or critical conditions as of April 10, the authorities said, urging more efforts to treat them, most of whom have underlying health conditions and are of old age.

Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan, who led the group, inspected Tongji Hospital in Wuhan and listened to the reports of designated hospitals for COVID-19 treatment in the city.

Sun, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, demanded utmost efforts to improve the cure rate for COVID-19 patients.

Stressing taking full advantage of the experiences accumulated in the fight against COVID-19, Sun required early intervention in treating patients, and triaged-based treatment to severe cases and patients with mild symptoms.

Severe patients should be further transferred to hospitals of high-quality medical resources, Sun said, calling for targeted treatment and better nursing to the patients.

Demanding timely quarantine and follow-up examination to cured patients discharged from hospitals, she also ordered the medical teams supporting Hubei to retain high-level intensive care groups and improve coordination with local medical workers.