Coronavirus: Chinese students share the love and the PPE around the world
- Social media group FightforWuhan was set up to provide vital supplies to hospitals in the central China city at the heart of the initial Covid-19 outbreak, but its volunteers are now spreading their message far and wide
- Freshman at Boston University describes the battle against the deadly disease as a game of two halves, with Chinese students involved in both
FightforWuhan was the idea of 17-year-old high school student Yihe Chang and 19 other young people. It was launched on January 23, the same day the central China city at the epicentre of the health crisis was plunged into total lockdown.
“That day was also my birthday and I totally forgot about it,” Chang said. “There was just so much to do in the group, so many people calling for help, so many wanting to help.”
So instead of blowing out candles on a birthday cake, the teenager spent the day receiving and recording donations, as well as buying medical supplies from overseas and sending them to hospitals where there was a desperate shortage.
Within two days, more than 1,200 volunteers – mostly teenagers – had joined the group, and in the weeks that followed they raised 900,000 yuan (US$127,000) and dispatched more than 50,000 face masks, 55,000 pairs of disposable gloves and 600 protective suits across the city, Chang said.