Internet giants step up to coronavirus battlefront

Internet companies have been swift in their response to the coronavirus outbreak. 

JD's logistics division has a delivery channel specifically for medical equipment and other materials bound for Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, which is the epicenter of the outbreak, and a crack team dedicated to collection and delivery. 

From January 19 to 22, more than 120 million masks and 300,000 sterilizers were sold on JD. 

The company is also working with major suppliers such as Honeywell and 3M to keep prices stable, with the first masks and medical equipment donated by JD already dispatched to hospitals in Wuhan. 

Alibaba has set aside 1 billion yuan (US$145 million) to source equipment for Hubei Province. 

The Hangzhou-headquartered e-commerce giant said employees have started to actively seek eligible supplier for medical masks in 14 overseas countries and regions. 

It also intends to purchase 2 million units of N95 facial masks, 300,000 surgical masks and 1 million disposable masks from local factories. 

A program launched on Friday on Alibaba's donation platform has raised 70 million yuan within eight hours to purchase medical equipment. 

Alibaba's offline grocery store Freshippo said its outlets in Wuhan would keep prices stable. Teams will offer hot meals to nearby hospitals and medical institutions.  

Tencent is giving 300 million yuan of pneumonia relief funds to charitable organizations. The first 1.5 million facial masks are already on the way to Wuhan. 

A map showing hospitals with fever clinics is available on its online mapping service and can be accessed through WeChat. Information on 1,900 hospitals is already online.