BEIJING - In its fight against the COVID-19 epidemic, China has put the people and their health above all else. When it comes to severe cases, the elderly are considered a high-risk group. However, nationwide, a number of centenarians have been discharged from hospital after recovering from the virus, thanks to the all-out efforts of medics.

As the country optimizes and adjusts its epidemic prevention and control measures, China is striving to achieve the goal of "protecting health and preventing severe cases" by strengthening vaccination for the elderly and improving the ability to treat acute and critical cases, among other moves.

The following stories of nine Chinese centenarians that have been cured exemplify the efforts in this regard. 　

"I DIDN'T EXPECT TO BE DISCHARGED SO SOON"

Sitting in her wheelchair, a 101-year-old COVID-19 patient surnamed Li expressed her thanks to the medical staff who had cared for her over the previous five days.

"Thank you so much. I didn't expect to be discharged so soon," said Li, a resident in Haizhu District of Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, which has seen a resurgence of COVID-19 infections in the past few weeks.

On Nov. 21, the centenarian developed a high fever, cough, shortness of breath and other symptoms, with a positive nucleic acid test result. Due to her advanced age and underlying conditions, she was rushed to the ICU at the Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital.

With careful treatment, Li recovered gradually and left the ward after only five days in hospital.

"Because most of the elderly COVID-19 patients suffer from underlying conditions, it is relatively difficult to treat them. It is remarkable that Li was able to prevail over the virus and recover. We sincerely wish her good health," said Lao Yu, deputy chief physician of the hospital's cardiovascular medicine department.

"If you put your heart into it, you will be able to cure more patients," said Xing Rui, director of the hospital's critical care medicine department, adding that the hospital has reserved about 200 ICU beds for treating critically ill patients.