Taiwan people join front-line COVID fight

As mass nucleic acid testing for COVID-19 was conducted in four Fujian cities to trace the virus and find potential cases, many residents, including those from Taiwan, volunteered to take part in the work.

In Xiamen, where there were more than 200 infections in September, two rounds of nucleic acid testing for more than 5 million residents were completed.

Su Fei-chun, who hails from Taiwan and works as the general manager of Xiamen's Hotel Discovery Inn, is head of a Taiwan business association in Huli district.

On Sept 16, she gathered 20 Taiwan compatriots living in the district to set up a volunteer team to help local authorities organize mass testing. They were assigned to a testing site set at a primary school in Huli, which was responsible for collecting samples from about 10,000 residents.

Wearing purple vests and red hats, the volunteers guided people on how to scan health codes, register their status and wait in line. They also answered people's queries about the testing process and maintained order.

"This volunteer team of 20 people was organized at short notice. They also have the experience of daily epidemic prevention volunteer work in their communities," Su said.

Members of her team work in optoelectronics, hotel management, environmental protection, health, and the arts, while others are retired, she said.

Having organized hotel quarantine as part of her work, Su has a great deal of knowledge about how to protect yourself from the virus.

Before they undertook the work, Su trained the volunteers on self-protection and testing site procedures. She prepared N95 masks, protective goggles and gloves, as well as a bottle of disinfectant for all the volunteers.

"I found that local people in Xiamen are quite self-disciplined. There were no people who didn't follow the rules, so our work went smoothly," she said.

Su said she will continue to encourage more Taiwan compatriots to join the volunteer work as there will be more mass testing in the city.

In February last year, when the country was facing a severe outbreak, the hotel Su works in was designated as a quarantine hotel for travelers returning from overseas, as it's located near Xiamen's airport. Travelers staying in the hotel were required to do two weeks of self-quarantine. Medical staff were stationed at the hotel to check the temperatures of guests every day and collect test samples, she said.

Hotel staff have to disinfect public areas of the building, such as corridors and lobbies, and clean the air conditioners every day, Su said.

"We take good care of the guests and make their stay here worry free," she said. On Sept 21, the Mid-Autumn Festival, the hotel gave cash rewards to staff members and offered mooncakes to the guests staying there.