Community workers playing vital role

Editor's Note: Novel coronavirus pneumonia is posing a worldwide threat. Here, we take a look at how China is playing its role in the global fight against the outbreak, by mobilizing a vast amount of resources to contain the epidemic. This is the first part of a series titled "United Actions".

Peng Jing, 33, a community worker with more than a decade of experience, faced her toughest challenge to date when novel coronavirus pneumonia hit Wuhan, Hubei province.

She has had less than five hours sleep a night for over 40 days as she has been busy organizing efforts to prevent and control the epidemic in the Shui'an Xingcheng Community in the city's Wuchang district, where she heads the neighborhood committee.

The community has 4,383 households and more than 11,000 people live there.

Peng is one of the community workers tackling disease control efforts in the 7,148 residential communities in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.

She and colleagues on the neighborhood committee find dealing with the routine work of community affairs is never easy at the best of times, but when an epidemic emerges, they feel it becomes even more difficult.

"We have 11 community workers, which means that every one of us is responsible for around 400 households," Peng said.

"We have to know the basic details of every household, such as how many people there are and whether their temperature is normal. We ask them to report their health status every day by making calls or using a WeChat group. We also have to ensure that residents are isolated promptly if they become infected or are suspected of having symptoms."

President Xi Jinping, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has acted as the commander-in-chief in the "people's war" against the epidemic.

Leading the government and public in fighting the battle, Xi has made Wuhan and Hubei the top priority in the nation's containment efforts.

On various occasions, he has said that winning the battle in Wuhan will lead to a victory in Hubei, which, in turn, will lead to triumph in the fight nationwide. Xi said that communities, in particular, hold the key to curbing the spread of the virus.

On Feb 20, while inspecting epidemic control work in Beijing, Xi stressed that communities are the front-line in containing the outbreak as well as the defensive line to prevent the disease being transmitted "inward and outward".

Three days later, at a meeting called to discuss coordinating epidemic control and socioeconomic development, he again underlined the need to mobilize more resources, including higher-ranking officials and volunteers, to work in communities to strengthen the defensive line "firmly and resolutely".

Peng Jing said she fully understands the significance of communities in winning the battle.

"That's why my colleagues and I faithfully carry out the measures that the Party and government have formulated on epidemic control, and strive to protect residents 'health," she added.

Peng and her colleagues pay special attention to seniors and people with disabilities. "For those who cannot be reached through WeChat or by phone, we visit their homes every day to check their temperature and health status," she added.

A total of 23 confirmed cases and 10 suspected ones have been found in Peng's community. All the patients have been hospitalized.

After the number of cases surged, Peng feared that she might become infected with the virus.

"My original aspiration of becoming a Communist Party of China member, and also the responsibility I shoulder, enable me to brave the risk of infection and keep fighting the virus," she said on WeChat Moments.

On Jan 23, the authorities in Wuhan announced that the city would be locked down and all public transportation suspended. On Feb 14, they ordered all residential communities to be locked down and people to stay at home as much as possible to reduce transmissions of the disease.

Four days later, some district authorities issued an order stating that people without authorized passes were no longer allowed to enter supermarkets. They also encouraged communities to organize group purchases in line with residents' needs.

With many people mainly staying at home, Peng said some residents had experienced difficulties buying daily necessities, adding that seniors living alone, people with disabilities and those with chronic diseases all need help. There are 621 people age 65 and older in her community.

"I ask my colleagues to give our mobile phone numbers to every resident. If they need help, we are available," Peng said, adding she has made more than 200 trips to help seniors in the community buy medicines.

Tian Ming, head of the neighborhood committee in the Fozuling B Community in the Wuhan East Lake High-Tech Development Zone, has also encountered problems helping residents buy daily necessities.

Since the start of the outbreak, the 29-year-old has worked shifts with other community workers to provide round-the clock services to residents, offering assistance with health problems or with buying daily necessities.

"There are 1,315 households in the community. When screening for infections, suspected cases and for those who have had close contact with infected people, we visit them door-to-door, taking their phone numbers, checking their temperature and noting whether they have any health problems," Tian said.

He added that his community is "smart", meaning that he can use his phone to contact residents easily and obtain information about every household.

However, complaints about Tian and his colleagues have occasionally been lodged by residents, who say the workers have failed to meet the different demands of so many people.

"We understand that when people are indoors for a long time, they easily become irritated and even panic when their demands are not met," Tian said. "To be frank, we are not happy about this, because we have worked very hard. But during such a crucial period, we comfort ourselves by saying 'be patient'."

Since the community lockdown was introduced, online purchasing has flourished, with supermarket platforms such as Zhongbai Cangchu, RT-MART and Carrefour promoting group purchases through online orders and dedicated deliveries.

When orders placed by residents arrive at the entrance to the community, Tian and his colleagues are responsible for delivering them to different addresses. "Generally, we place all the deliveries at the gate to each residential building to avoid a large cluster of people gathering in one place and to reduce the potential risk of infection," he said.

For those unable to easily access online shopping, Tian helps organize purchases of daily necessities through group buying.

A video clip posted online recently caught netizens' attention. The footage showed a woman speaking in the Wuhan dialect complaining that community workers were failing to play a proper role in helping residents purchase daily necessities from a local supermarket through group buying. She also said the package of commodities provided by the supermarket was not a "good combination" and the prices were unreasonable.

Tian said he understood the woman's complaints. However, he added that community workers are not all-powerful and there are circumstances they might neglect, "but we will do our best".

After the community lockdown was announced in Wuhan, the authorities stepped up efforts to ensure residents had an adequate supply and smooth delivery of daily necessities.

During an inspection tour of a fresh food processing and delivery center at Zhongbai Holdings Group last week, Wang Zhonglin, the Party secretary of the Wuhan City Committee, urged suppliers and logistics companies to make coordinated efforts to ensure that prices of provisions and commodities remain stable and that delivery services run smoothly.

He said it is necessary for people to stay at home to prevent and contain the epidemic, but it is essential that they are able to access daily necessities.

To ease the burden on community workers, on Feb 23, the local authorities launched a campaign to recruit volunteers. To date, more than 10,000 people throughout Wuhan have offered their services, officials said.

Zhou Qing, 37, who lives in the Huajin Community in Wuchang district, offered to act as a volunteer. Together with others, he helps community workers screen people for infection and to deliver daily necessities and medicine.

He said he is happy to contribute to the fight against the epidemic. "As President Xi Jinping said, prevailing in the war on the epidemic depends on all the Chinese people. I'm one of them," Zhou added.

After paying inspection visits to some Chinese cities, including Wuhan, World Health Organization officials have praised the "ambitious, agile and aggressive" control measures taken by China to contain the epidemic.

They said the measures, bolstered by nationwide solidarity and advanced scientific research, had altered the "curve of the outbreak "for the better, averted a large number of potential cases and provided experience in improving the global response to the disease.

Bruce Aylward, senior adviser to the director-general of the WHO and head of its foreign experts panel, said at a news conference in Beijing that measures such as mass isolation, shutting down transportation and mobilizing the public to follow hygienic practices have proved effective in curbing a contagious and mysterious disease, especially when the whole of society is committed to such action.

"This approach of all-of-government and all-of-society is very old-fashioned, but it has averted and probably prevented at least tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of cases," he said. "It is extraordinary.

"To the people of Wuhan, it is recognized that the world is in your debt," he said, adding that when the outbreak is over, hopefully there will be a chance to thank them for the role they have played.

The situation in Wuhan is improving, with the number of new cases each day declining and thousands of patients confirmed with the disease being discharged from hospitals after they recover. However, both Peng and Tian said they remain vigilant about the disease.

Tian said: "We will keep fighting until the war against the epidemic is fully won. We must be careful about the health of residents in our community."

Peng said that when the outbreak is over, the first thing she wants to do is to switch off her mobile phone and sleep soundly.