Emergency Management Strategies for Children with Rheumatic Disease During COVID-19 Epidemic Outside Hubei in China

Background: Since December 2019, many patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) have appeared in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The pneumonia was caused by a novel coronavirus named “coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19” by the WHO on February 11, 2020. The COVID-19 outbreak has created a global public health crisis, and the challenge of combatting this pandemic and its impact is daunting. At present, vaccines and prophylactic therapies for COVID-19 are not available. What we can do now is to aggressively implement infection control measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 via human-to-human transmission. Objectives: The study aimed to summarize the effect of classification and division management methods on the prevention and control of COVID-19 in the Pediatric Immunology and Rheumatology Department. Methods: Corresponding and targeted medical countermeasures for the prevention and control of COVID-19 from the aspects of personnel, ward, and process management were retrospectively analyzed. Results: From January 16, 2020, to July 31, 2020, there were 11,000 outpatients with rheumatic disease visiting our hospital and 565 children with rheumatic diseases hospitalized in our department. All the patients received timely and reasonable treatment. None of the patients, their caregivers, or medical staff acquired COVID-19 infection in our department, and no suspected COVID-19 case was confirmed in our ward. Conclusions: The model of classification and division management ensured the orderly and safe treatment of children with rheumatic disease during the epidemic prevention and control period, and protected the medical staff from occupational injuries at work, and brought the pandemic under control.