WUHAN, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- The combination of traditional Chinese and Western medicine in treating COVID-19 is proved effective, said Yu Yanhong, an official with the National Health Commission, at a video press conference Thursday.

The method can rapidly improve the condition of patients with mild symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat, weakness and lack of appetite, and cut the duration of hospital stays, said Yu, who is also the deputy head of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Experts also find that the combination can help prevent mild symptoms from developing into severe and critical conditions, thus reducing the death rate of the disease, she noted.

A study on 102 mild cases showed that the clinical symptoms of those receiving the combined treatment disappeared two days sooner than the control group, and the recovery rate improved 33 percent, Yu explained.

She also noted that traditional Chinese medicine can effectively improve the number of lymphocytes, an indicator of patient recovery.

In another study on cases of severe conditions, the patients receiving the combined treatment stayed an average of over two days shorter in hospital than the control group, with multiple indicators improving.

"In the future, we will further improve the plan of traditional and western medicine treatment to give it a greater role in saving the patients," Yu said.