Community spirit alive and well as locals donate time and more to those in need
Around 6am on Friday, Lu Hongyan, a Chedun team member of the Shanghai Urban Management and Law Enforcement Bureau in Songjiang District, left home for work. It was the seventh day of Chinese lunar month, a national holiday.
After one hour and three public bus transfers, Lu gathered together with her 14 colleagues at the bureau. Their job today was to help a medical material company to produce face masks production voluntarily. She would stand all day long beside the manufacturing line to help out after simple directions from factory workers.
Lu has been in the Chedun team for four years. “We always work on holidays," she said. "It’s not my first day of work during this Spring Festival; I was on duty on New Year’s Eve, too.”
Shen Yidong, a Chedun team member of Shanghai Urban Management and Law Enforcement Bureau, has his body temperature taken before entering a mask factory.
This isn't the first first day working this holiday for Lu's colleague Shen Yidong, either. Shen has volunteered several times already, including helping to pack, load and transport masks.
Shen recalls the moment he signing up for the volunteer activity: “Our urban management team is an important force to ensure the city’s safety. It’s our duty, so I didn't have any hesitation joining up.”
The novel coronavirus outbreak has turned face masks into a hot commodity, but many mask companies are short of labor since it's the holiday season in China. Chedun team members knew it was time to stand up.
After more than eight hours’ helping out on 31 January, the 15 volunteers had made 70,000 respirators and more than one million respirators had been packed and loaded to be shipped off to where they're needed most.
A worker uses a disinfectant machine to sanitize someone at the disinfection room of the company.
Disinfectant is another hot commodity recently.
“From New Year’s Eve till now, everyday we have people here,” says Zhang Jingjing, deputy manager of the R&D Center at Shanghai Wanlay Environmental Technology. “Now, we make 30 tons of disinfectant daily. If necessary, we are able to make 100 tons per day.”
Unlike usual disinfectant which can aggravate the skin, Zhang says CELA disinfectant contains hypochlorous acid which can be used directly on the skin.
While talking, Zhang Jingjing had a little cough, so she sprayed CELA disinfectant into her month. “Yes, it can be used on mucosa, no problem!"
She wants the public to know that they have the ability to produce such disinfectant with higher safety. "If any places with crowds need it, we will try our best to supply,” Zhang continued.
With the help of a the Songjiang volunteering NGO, the company donated ten tons of their disinfectant directly to Wuchang Hospital in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak and capital of Hubei province using free delivery provided by EMS.
The company has stored up more than 60 tons of disinfectant as a backup to ensure sufficient supply for local hospitals, but they have a lack of space for storage.
Qifu Hi-tech Park in Xinqiao area of Songjiang district, where the company is located, provided 1,300 square meters’ of storage space for free.
Qifu Hi-tech Park in Xinqiao area of Songjiang district, where the company is located, provided 1,300 square meters’ of storage space for free.
