A delegation of 13 medical workers sent by Zhejiang province to Italy arrive at Longwan International Airport in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province on April 2. [Photo/zj.zjol.com]

A delegation of 13 medical workers sent by Zhejiang province to Italy recently returned, having successfully completing their mission to aid the country in its fight against COVID-19.

The medics are all from famous hospitals in the province, including the First Affiliated Hospital of the School of Medicine of Zhejiang University, the Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province, the provincial hospital of traditional Chinese medicine, and the provincial center for disease control.

They set off on March 18, with nine metric tons of medical supplies that Zhejiang has prepared to donate to Italy.

When they arrived in Milan, the hardest-hit region in Italy, they received a warm welcome from local authorities who expressed gratitude for their help.

Over the next two weeks, the delegation stayed in Milan and shared their ideas with local government and hospitals in epidemic control policies, therapies and prevention methods.

In particular, Yang Junchao, deputy director of the provincial hospital of traditional Chinese medicine, shared the practice - which had been successful in Zhejiang - of preventing and treating patients using traditional Chinese medicine.

They also made a series of videos to teach the Italian public to protect themselves from getting infected and gave professional guidance and counseling services to Chinese embassy staff, companies and individuals in Italy.

"Great changes have taken place in Italy over the past two weeks. The local epidemic control was not strict enough when we just arrived, but later we saw stricter lockdown and isolation measures. Many stores except some necessary pharmacies and supermarkets started to close and local residents started to avoid coming out," said Hu Xu, a doctor from the Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province.

"We wrote three reports before we left Italy, one for the Italian government to use as a reference when making epidemic control policies, one for the Italian public to learn about how to protect themselves and the other as a summary of our work for the review of our national health commission," said the leader of the delegation and also executive-vice-president of the First Affiliated Hospital of the School of Medicine of Zhejiang University.

"I think our mission is fulfilled and it promoted China-Italy cooperation in epidemic control and prevention," said Chen Zhengfang, a member of the delegation and also the director of the cooperation and communication department of the provincial health commission.