Chinese medical team embarks on mission to Palestine

A team of 10 medical professionals from Chongqing boarded a charter plane on Wednesday morning and departed for Palestine to help the state contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

By June 9, there were 653 confirmed cases in Palestine, including 558 recovered cases and five deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

At the invitation of the Palestinian government, China's National Health Commission soon put together a team selected by the Chongqing municipal government. It is the second medical team that the city has sent abroad.

The Chinese experts come from the municipal health commission, the foreign affairs office, the Chongqing Center for Disease Control and Prevention and two hospitals affiliated with Chongqing Medical University and Chongqing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital.

The team consists of experts in the fields of respiratory and infectious diseases, surgery, traditional Chinese medicine, laboratory work, epidemiology and nursing.

Most of them are also on the expert team of the Chongqing coronavirus control and prevention working group. All of them have fought on the front lines against the virus in Hubei province or Chongqing.

"Viruses know no borders, and they don't care about your ethnicity or the color of your skin," said Huang Minghui, director of Chongqing municipal health commission, during his farewell speech at the airport.

"China will always fight on the front lines against the virus. The 10 experts will bring China's best wishes and deep friendship to the Palestinian people."

The team will set up four technical groups in medical treatment, epidemic control and prevention, testing and nursing.

According to the work plan, they will share information and their experiences in epidemic control and prevention, treatment and testing with their counterparts in Palestine.

On May 14, a team of 20 medical professionals from Chongqing and the Macao Special Administrative Region departed for Algeria to help the African country contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

The team includes 15 medical workers from Chongqing and five from Macao, covering the fields of respiratory and infectious diseases, intensive care, cardiology, traditional Chinese medicine, laboratory work, epidemiology and nursing.

After finishing their 15-day mission in Algeria, the team continued their work in Africa and moved to Sudan on May 28.