Friends, relatives and neighbors have been helping each other by sharing fever medications in times of need. Li Hongyang reports.
Volunteers provide medicine for a senior resident of Tiexi district in Shenyang, Liaoning province. CHINA DAILY
In recent weeks, fever medicines have been in short supply after the number of COVID-19 cases rose sharply nationwide.
It seemed that no sooner had people got the medicine, they contracted the virus, so mutual assistance between neighbors, relatives and friends has helped during many emergency situations.
For example, Li Shaoqing, a 37-year-old insurance industry worker from Guangzhou, Guangdong province, recently helped an old college classmate obtain medicine late at night.
At about 10 pm on Dec 18, the classmate, Xu Yan, asked Li for some medicine as her children, both younger than 10 years old, were running temperatures as high as 39 C.
However, Li didn't have enough medication, so she turned to Luo Minhua, an old high school classmate, for help. Luo sent the medicine via a delivery service, despite having two children who were in also danger of contracting the disease. In fact, they fell ill just two days later.
"Recently, it has been difficult to get fever medicine, especially for children. Lining up for medication at a hospital can take as long as eight hours," Li said.
"Although my two old classmates don't know each other, Luo insisted on donating the medicine, saying that the children needed it. I was moved by her generosity."
Volunteer Lou Xingmei, shows a neighbor in Jinshan district, Shanghai, how to administer fever medicine. CHINA DAILY
Social media aid
Deng Yan, 31, from Foshan, Guangdong, said she was touched by the gratitude shown by her neighbor as she didn't expect any feedback when she donated some medicine to her.
Although they are not acquainted, the women are members of their building's WeChat group. The families had never met as the neighbor and her husband work in a different city, but Deng had briefly met the woman's parents-in-law and 10-year-old child in the building's elevator.
"The other day, my neighbor posted a request for help on our building's WeChat group. She needed fever medicine for her child because the medication she had ordered had not yet arrived. Since we live closer than other group members, I sent some to her," Deng said.
As Deng's 3-year-old child has a history of febrile seizures, she stores the medicine at home.
"As a mother, I understood how anxious my neighbor was. Although the fever medicine was really difficult to obtain, it was essential to get some to the child to reduce the fever," Deng said.
The next day, when the neighbor's order of medicine arrived, she immediately sent Deng several packages of the fever treatment.
Deng said: "The response from my neighbor made me feel that helping people is a really good thing. I was touched when she said, 'You have been kind to me, so I want to be kind to you.' We both have children and teaching them by example is the best education."
Recently, Deng also sent medication to others in need via a mutual aid medicine delivery program operated by the tech giant Tencent.
"I can't use all the pills, so when I am able to help, I just help out," she said.
A donor sticks medicine on the wall of an elevator in a compound in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on Dec 22. DONG XUMING/FOR CHINA DAILY
Good neighbors
Li Kaili, a 29-year-old editor from Zhengzhou, Henan province, said she was grateful that her neighbor shared some fever medicine with her.
Recently, her 1-year-old child developed a fever at about midnight, so she asked for help from a neighbor she knows through mutual interests and babysitting exchanges.
"My neighbor replied to my message at around 3 am. Even though her 10-month-old also needed the medicine, she gave half of it to me," Li Kaili said. "There is a saying that a good close neighbor is better than a relative far away. I definitely agree with that because a neighbor nearby can provide more timely help," she added.
"I was particularly moved, so I recorded the deed on my social media. When my son grows up, he will know what happened and how friendly and helpful the people around him were."
On Dec 10, a 27-year-old woman surnamed Wang who works in the internet industry in Beijing developed a temperature of 39 C.
About an hour after she posted requests for help in several WeChat groups, she received some of the bestselling fever medicines from friends and also from a neighbor she has never even met.
Having studied and worked in the capital for five years, Wang, who hails from Shandong province, said she could feel the "warmth of the capital city".
"My unknown neighbor even offered to give me her last pack of medicine, which gave me a glimpse of light in the darkness," Wang said.
"I will bear their kindness in mind, and when I think about it on an unhappy day, it will make me smile. Though COVID-19 is merciless, we can overcome the disease by uniting and working together."
