BEIJING — Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been widely used to treat COVID-19 patients, yielding good outcomes, said a medical expert Feb 29.

With TCM treatment, patients with mild symptoms have seen their fever or cough alleviated, Wang Rongbing, director physician with Beijing Ditan Hospital, said at a press conference.

For severely ill patients, TCM helped relieve symptoms and restore blood oxygen saturation, preventing the patients' conditions from developing into critically ill cases, Wang said.

She also noted the effectiveness of Qingfei Paidu Soup, a herbal concoction that mixes ephedra and licorice root among other ingredients, in the treatment of COVID-19 patients with symptoms ranging from mild to critical.

Qingfei Paidu Soup has been used in 66 designated hospitals in 10 provincial-level regions, Wang said, adding that of the 1,183 patients under medical observation, 640 have been discharged from hospital and 457 have seen their symptoms eased.