Across China: Volunteers offer hearty support in fight against COVID-19 resurgence

JINAN -- Zhao Qiuyao has worked for more than 10 hours a day at a nucleic acid testing site since the latest wave of COVID-19 battered East China's Shandong province in early March.

"The busiest time is when the mass testing was carried out. At a community of 2,700 residents, I have to lift my arms back and forth tens of thousands of times a day as a result of repeating sampling procedures," said Zhao, a volunteer and nurse from a local dental hospital in the city of Jiaozhou, Shandong Province.

Despite the hard work, Zhao said it is her responsibility to do something for her hometown at this critical moment. The 26-year old volunteer always arrives one or two hours in advance, counting and checking anti-pandemic materials, and more importantly, testing electronic devices to prevent any trouble in nucleic acid tests.

A total of 2,300 volunteers including Zhao from different medical facilities have joined the fight against the coronavirus in Jiaozhou, forming 1,237 teams to guarantee nucleic acid testing there runs smoothly.

Shandong Province reported 61 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the National Health Commission said on Friday.

The dynamic zero-COVID approach has been greatly supported by people from all walks of life -- from frontline medical staff and local residents to college students and community volunteers.

Since the resurgence, 60-year-old resident Luan Ling, from Shandong's Laixi city, has been working in the kitchen. Along with other volunteers, she makes a large number of steamed buns and bread for medical staff every day.

"It comforted me a lot that our friends could have warm meals when they are fighting on the frontlines," Luan said.

Zheng Kaiwen and Cui Lujun are doing similar things in the city of Laiyang. They drive around various checkpoints from 7 pm to 11 pm to bring dumplings to the policemen on duty.

"It's a tough time, and we also want to do something. We made a total of 5,000 dumplings with the support of our families. However, the policemen hardly have any time to eat," Cui said.

"As we have to wear protective suits, it's not quite convenient to communicate with people who came here to greet us or bring food and drinks here. But we are indeed grateful for their kindness," said Zhang Zhidong with the local police department.