When I'm on the night shift, all the department heads can't sleep.

Around 8:10, the nursing handover at the emergency room nurses' station ended first.

Nurse Zhao and the day shift nurse signed their names on the handover sheet.

Nurse Zhao had stayed up all night and her voice was a little hoarse. Before leaving, she was still worried and made one more call to the fever clinic.

Qin Hai connected to the intercom and casually pressed the speakerphone button.

Nurse Zhao's voice came through the landline: "The day shift staff have arrived, I'll head over here first. The outer entrance has been reassigned, and make sure the security guards don't move the movable barriers. If Lin Ye is still standing at the work station, send him to rest."

Qin Hai looked at Lin Ye: "Did you hear that?"

"I heard you."

"Then don't pretend you didn't understand."

Day shift staff from the infectious disease department, fever clinic, and hospital infection control department entered their respective areas along designated routes.

Xu Mingzhe handed over the inspection and verification records, Luo Wenbin handed over the bedside monitoring records, and Li Qian finally handed over the clean area personnel records to the infection control staff who came to take over the shift.

Following the route confirmed by the infection control team, the on-duty staff led Lin Ye away from the clean area.

Qin Hai then followed the same route to another lounge.

The hospital designated a section of the corridor on the second floor of the administration building as a temporary cleaning office area, converted two empty offices into rest rooms, and used an adjacent room to check personnel lists.

All three offices are located in the same area where hospital-acquired infections have been confirmed, and staff awaiting evaluation can rotate between the two break rooms.

There were no beds in the lounge; several conference chairs were pushed together against the wall, and a temporary rest registration form was posted by the door, where entry and exit times had to be recorded.

As Lin Ye leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, someone next door was still moving a printer.

Ma Hao's voice came through intermittently. First, he asked how to export the access control records, and after a while, he was looking for the contact number for the night shift logistics staff.

Lin Ye originally wanted to go out and take a look, but drowsiness suddenly overwhelmed him.

I put my phone on ring and placed it beside me, and I quickly fell asleep.

When I opened my eyes again, my phone was vibrating beside me.

The screen showed 10 o'clock, a reminder he had set that morning.

Lin Ye sat up straight and took a moment to remember that he had promised his family he would send them a message after he woke up.

He sent his mother a message: "My colleagues on the day shift have taken over, I'm resting in the hospital, everything's fine for now."

After the message was delivered, Lin Ye locked the screen and put the phone back in his pocket.

I slept for more than an hour, and the drowsiness subsided a bit.

He got up and walked to the door, just about to go out to wash his face, when the landline in the next office rang.

Ma Hao answered the phone, listened for a few minutes, and then called out to Lin Ye at the door.

Lin Ye casually added his departure time to the registration form by the door, then walked to the next office in the same area and stopped at the desk.

"It's Director Zhou, the official report from the Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention has arrived." Ma Hao glanced around the room to confirm that everyone present was involved in the list verification before pressing the speakerphone button.

Zhou Min's voice came through the landline speaker: "The Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention laboratory has just completed the review. After re-extraction of Xu Wenliang's sample, both the ORF1ab and N gene targets showed clear amplification, and the quality control results were normal. The same sample was tested twice in parallel, and the results were consistent. The official report concluded that the nucleic acid test for the novel coronavirus was positive, and the notification from the local CDC has also arrived."

"For those who visited the fever clinic, the emergency CT scan area, and the test delivery channel last night, what stage of the verification process is it at?"

Ma Hao put the two lists on the table together: "The hospital's shift schedule, access control records, and temporary support list have all been checked item by item. The names and entry times of the logistics and outsourced personnel have not yet been fully verified; I'm confirming them with the logistics duty room."

"Save the existing list separately and do not overwrite the original file with new information. Create a separate record for any additional personnel found later, clearly stating their name, phone number, entry time, and source of information. The Infection Control Department has also assigned a day shift staff member to go to the administration building immediately to take over the verification."

After hanging up the phone, Ma Hao clicked the print button on his computer.

The printer next to it first printed out the existing personnel list, and then printed out a stack of blank new personnel record sheets.

After the official report is synchronized to the testing system, the on-call medical staff, together with the infection control department, will issue new requirements for personnel entry and exit.

An administrative building staff member printed out a pass notice and handed it to Ma Hao's desk: The emergency and critical care channel remains open, but visitors are temporarily prohibited from entering; staff who visited the relevant areas last night should remain in their current work area or the rest area designated by the hospital, and await infection control assessment.

In the isolation ward of the fever clinic, the day shift staff from the respiratory and infectious disease departments were reassessing the transfer risks of Xu Wenliang at his bedside.

Before the municipal treatment team decides whether to transfer him to a designated hospital and clarifies the respiratory support conditions required for the transfer, Xu Wenliang continues to receive high-flow humidified oxygen therapy.

Gao Limin and Shao Dequan are still in their respective observation positions awaiting test results.

The doctor on duty at the fever clinic first informed Xu Wenliang of the official results at his bedside, and then notified Xu Jing through the intercom.

After listening, Xu Jing's first question was, "Then does my dad need to be transferred to another hospital?"

"Your father will remain in the fever clinic isolation ward for further treatment. He is currently dependent on high-flow oxygen therapy. How to ensure respiratory support during transport will need to be assessed jointly by the municipal treatment team and the respiratory department. We will communicate with you again once the plan is finalized."

After the call ended, Xu Jing sat down on the chair on the outside and sent a voice message to her mother.

She told her mother the results she had just heard, and then reminded her to stay at home and answer any calls from unknown numbers.

In the list verification office of the administration building, two lines of light blue text appeared at the edge of Lin Ye's field of vision.

[Risk Area: The scope of potential exposure within the hospital continues to expand]

Key gaps: outsourced staff, temporary staff, and staff whose handover records are only kept manually.

Lin Ye looked at the list on the computer.

The first page lists people with hospital employee numbers, while temporary support staff are listed separately at the back. Cleaning, transportation, and equipment maintenance personnel are scattered across several different forms.

"Has the manual handover record from the emergency CT scan been checked?"

"That's exactly what I was going to tell you." Ma Hao enlarged a scanned document. "I can't find this person in the access control records, and his name isn't on the hospital's duty roster either. I saw his signature on the emergency CT portable oxygen cylinder return slip."

The scanned document has a handwritten note in the lower right corner: 22:14, oxygen cylinder returned, Du Guoping.

It was followed by the words "Ruicheng Logistics," but there was no employee number within the institute.

"Where did you get the scanned copy?" Lin Ye asked.

"This was sent by the radiology department during their daytime equipment inventory. After those patients had their chest CT scans last night, a portable oxygen cylinder for patients requiring oxygen was left in the corridor and was later returned by the logistics transport staff." Ma Hao opened another document. "I also asked the logistics department for Ruicheng's night shift roster. Du Guoping, 48 years old, was on duty from 8 PM last night to 8 AM this morning. When the hospital compiled the personnel list by employee number, he wasn't included."

Lin Ye checked the return time of the oxygen cylinder against the CT scan times of the three patients.

When Du Guoping entered the emergency CT scan area, Gao Limin, Shao Dequan, and Xu Wenliang had already completed their examinations.

At that time, the relevant area was still used as a regular emergency room route.

Ma Hao has added Du Guoping's name to the list of newly added personnel, with the information source listed as "Emergency CT Equipment Handover Record" and "Ruicheng Logistics Night Shift Schedule".

He combined the two records on one side of the screen: "I'll tell Director Zhou and the infection control department first."

Ma Hao then called Zhou Min and reported the two records and the time Du Guoping entered the emergency CT scan area.

Another staff member from the infection control department, who was on the day shift, quickly arrived at the administration building.

She first checked the two records, then contacted the logistics duty room to confirm that Du Guoping handed over his shift at 8:00 a.m. and left through the staff passage on the east side of the hospital at around 8:20 a.m.

Ruicheng Logistics registered Du Guoping's contact number and home address in the south of the city; the logistics staff on duty also mentioned that he usually takes the bus to and from get off work.

The staff reported the situation to the local disease control center and then asked Ma Hao to dial Du Guoping's number.

The phone rang for a long time. After answering, Ma Hao pressed the speakerphone button, and the bus stop announcement came from the landline.

"Who is it?" The man's voice was clearly sleepy. "I just got off my night shift. Can we talk this afternoon?"

The infection control staff member approached the landline, first identifying himself and the hospital: "Mr. Du, did you go to the emergency CT scan area last night and return a portable oxygen cylinder?"

"I was there, around 10 o'clock. What happened? Was there a problem with the oxygen cylinder?"

"The oxygen cylinder itself is fine. There was an infectious disease risk in the area last night, so we need to verify your route. Which vehicle are you in now? Are you wearing a mask properly?"

There was a moment of silence on Du Guoping's end. When he answered, he was much more sober: "Route 17, just past the Nanhe Bridge. I've been wearing a mask the whole time. Did the hospital find something?"

"The local staff will explain the specifics to you. Please don't hang up yet, don't take off your mask, and don't talk to anyone next to you."

The staff of the hospital infection control department are still in contact with the local disease control center via mobile phone.

She repeated the train number and location that Du Guoping had given her, and the other party quickly provided the meeting point.

She repeated her instructions to Du Guoping over the landline: "Get off at the back door at the next stop. After getting off, stay in an open area by the roadside and don't go into the bus station hall. Local staff will contact you. Don't transfer again until you arrive."

"There's one more thing," she continued, "Did you take that oxygen cylinder back by yourself last night?"

"Old He pushed it with me," Du Guoping answered quickly. "He Jianjun, he's in the same class as me, fifty-one years old. He was holding the oxygen tank, and I signed my name on the return form."

The bus announcement sounded again; the next stop was Chengnan Bus Station.

Ma Hao quickly pulled up a blank record page and filled in the information for Route 17, Nanhe Bridge, and Chengnan Bus Station one by one. Then he flipped back to the Ruicheng Logistics Night Shift Schedule.

He Jianjun's name is listed below Du Guoping's, but not in the hospital's overall list.

Du Guoping has been located, and local personnel are on their way to the next destination.

The "Current Location" column for He Jianjun is still empty.