"Notable results have been achieved. However, there are still great difficulties in the treatment of severe patients," said Guo Yanhong, an official with the National Health Commission at a press conference, stressing that China has gone all out to save more lives.

The high proportion of elderly patients and and patients with multiple diseases have posed challenges to the treatment, Guo noted, adding that some patients also need a longer time to recover due to their unstable conditions.

Pooling together the strengths of medical resources, Guo said severe patients have been sent to hospitals with high-level conditions and received centralized treatment.

For patients with multiple diseases, coordinated treatment across disciplines has been strengthened, and it is important to reinforce nursing personnel for elderly patients, according to Guo.

Facing increasing imported cases, Guo said more efforts are needed to attend to mild patients and prevent mild symptoms from developing into severe ones, as well as strengthening treatment combining traditional Chinese and Western medicine.

Meanwhile, personalized treatment plans should also be highlighted to take scientific and targeted measures, Guo said.

The Chinese mainland had reported a total of 983 imported cases as of the end of Monday. Of them, 285 had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, and 698 were being treated in hospitals with 21 in severe condition, the commission said in its daily report.