Autopsies on 11 COVID-19 cases conducted in China to help clinical treatment

Chinese pathologists have concluded autopsies on 11 patients who died from the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the reports will soon be released to provide an important reference for clinical treatment, said China's health authorities on Saturday.

The autopsy work is crucial to answering a series of unknown questions of the COVID-19 which is a new infectious disease, said Wang Guiqiang, director of the infectious disease department under the Peking University First Hospital, at a press conference in Beijing.

The findings of the autopsies will give some guidance to the clinical practice, said Wang.

"We understand that this is a job of very high risk. We must thank our pathologists who have made great contributions to the cause," said Wang.

The deceased patients and their families should also be thanked for their strong support of the work, Wang stressed.

According to the National Health Commission, the overall confirmed cases of the COVID-19 on the mainland had reached 79,251 by the end of Friday, and 2,835 people had died of the disease.