OBJECTIVES: Describe the clinical characteristics of patients in Fangcang Hospital. METHODS: Non-critically ill patients with positive SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR tests admitted to Dongxihu 'Fangcang' Hospital between February 7th and 12th were included, which was promptly constructed because of the rapid, exponential increase in COVID-19 patients in Wuhan, China; clinical course through February 22nd was recorded. RESULTS: 1012 non-critically ill patients with positive SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR tests were included in the study. 30 (of 1012, 3.0%) patients were asymptomatic on admission. During hospitalization, 16 of 30 (53.3%) asymptomatic patients suffered from different symptoms. Fourteen of 1012 patients (1.4%) remained asymptomatic from exposure to the end of follow-up, with a median duration of 24 days (IQR 22-27). Fever (761 of 1012, 75.2%) and cough (531 of 1012, 52.4%) were the most common symptoms. Small patchy opacities (355 of 917, 38.7%)and ground-glass opacities (508 of 917, 55.4%) were common imaging manifestations in chest CT scan. One hundred patients (9.9%) were transferred to designated hospitals due to aggravation of illness. Diarrhea emerged in 152 of 1012 patients (15.0%). Male, elder age, diabetes cardiovascular diseases, chills, dyspnea, SO2 value of 10 x10(9)/L and large consolidated opacity on CT images were all risk factors for aggravation of illness. CONCLUSIONS: Non-critically ill patients had different clinical characteristics than critically ill patients. Asymptomatic infections only accounted for a small proportion of COVID-19. Although with a low incidence, diarrhea was observed in patients with COVID-19, indicating the possibility of faecal-oral transmission.
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