Corona Virus International Public Health Emergencies: Implications for Radiology Management

Abstract

The outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pneumonia was reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China in December 2019 and has spread internationally. This article discusses how radiology departments can most effectively respond to this public health emergency.

Keywords: 2019-nCoV; COVID-19; PHEIC; WHO; radiology management.

Figure 1

Outpatient processing map (for the 2019-nCoV emergency) at the First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University.

Figure 2

Radiology Department classification and regionalization management map. Red represents contaminated area, orange represents a mixed zone, yellow represents a transition zone, green represents a clean area. (Color version of figure is available online.)

Figure 3

All of the previous images were of patients who have a history of living in the epidemic area, and all have been seen for having a fever. (A) and (B) are typical of interstitial changes and ground-glass opacity for pneumonia in patients with positive nucleic acid test results. (C) and (D) show solid lesions on the apex of the lung, which need to be distinguished from tuberculosis; however, these patients had positive nucleic acid test results. (E) and (F) do not show clear lesions, but the nucleic acid test results were positive in these patients.