China's capital Beijing has been increasing its capacity to treat patients with fever by mobilizing nearly 1,200 new fever clinics as well as a number of temporary service centers and ensuring medical supplies in the city, according to officials at a press conference on Monday.

Tu Zhitao, director of the Beijing Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said that the municipality has taken urgent action in response to the growing number of patients with fever.

"Beijing has adjusted medical resources in a timely and dynamic manner according to the current situation, and rapidly increased the number of fever clinics from 94 to 1,263, including 303 in hospitals of secondary and higher level and 960 in community health institutions, to maximize access to care for patients with fever," Tu said.

"To better respond to the medical demands for seasonal influenza and the novel coronavirus infections, we have been transforming the empty makeshift hospitals, stadiums, exhibition halls and other venues into service centers for patients with fever, so as to facilitate the treatment of them and relieve the pressure on fever clinics in medical institutions," he said.

Secondary and tertiary hospitals have dispatched medical staff to the temporary centers to provide prescription services and medical insurance settlement for patients with fever, especially to those above six and under 60 without underlying diseases.

So far, Beijing's eight districts have turned available space such as gymnasiums into fever clinics equipped with emergency drugs, equipment and beds, boosting the receiving capacity by 4,200 per day, according to Tu. 

Beijing's Municipal Government spokesman Xu Hejian added that efforts have been made to relieve pressure on drug supply in the city to meet the surging demand. 

"At present, the city's medicine supply and medical treatment resources are under increasing pressure due to the rapid spread of the epidemic and the continuously rising number of patients with fever. After a period of hard work, the supply and demand for medical care and drug is still in a tight balance, but the momentum toward stabilizing and improving is coming up," Xu said.