On March 17, 258 medical staff of the second, third, and fifth batches of Hainan medical teams set off from Hubei to return to Hainan. Among them, 240 members arrived in Haikou by plane on the afternoon, and the remaining 18 reached Haikou with 9 special rescue vehicles by ship on the early morning of March 19 after more than 30 hours of long-distance driving.

On the early morning of March 19, as the special rescue vehicles arrived at Hai'an New Port, the crew of Strait No. 1 Ship, who were ready to greet the medical staff, pulled up a banner: "Welcome the triumphant return of the Hainan Medical Team aiding Hubei Province".

This batch of medical staff, with an average age of about 30 years old and coming from hospitals in Hainan, headed for the frontline of Wuhan to fight against the epidemic on February 3. With the 9 special rescue vehicles equipped with operating tables, ventilators and B ultrasound facilities, this medical team is equivalent to a mobile secondary hospital which can quickly carry out relevant aiding measures like a "battlefield hospital" on the epidemic frontline in Wuhan.

The medical staff arrive in Haikou safely. (Photo by Liu Yang/Hinews.cn)

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Hainan has sent 7 medical teams with a total of 864 medical staff to support Hubei Province. A total of 258 members from the second, third, and fifth batches of Hainan medical teams are the first group of medical staff returning to Hainan. During the period in Hubei, the second and third batches of medical teams assisted Wuhan Jianghan Makeshift Hospital, while the fifth batch of medical team aided Wuhan Optics Valley Technology Makeshift Hospital. These three medical teams have provided service for a total of 1301 confirmed patients, nursing 759 confirmed cases and curing 558 cases, without any medical staff infected.