Beijing unites to ensure supplies during COVID-19 outbreak

Special cares

Patients who need medication and infants who require milk powder are among those with special needs in lockdown and controlled zones.

During the outbreak, governments at all levels and delivery companies have combined to meet special demands, such as supplying milk powder or a vehicle for a trip to hospital.

Meituan is working with more than 2,000 local chain drugstores to ensure sufficient medication is delivered to people in need. Some of its stores are stocking twice the amount of commonly used medicines than usual, while supplies of medication for children and drugs to treat chronic diseases have tripled.

Meituan allows customers to place orders anytime during the day and cooperates with drugstores to offer a 24-hour delivery service. To date, it has cooperated with 400 such stores to provide online purchasing services, covering 16 districts in Beijing.

Local authorities and medical institutions have also started to operate 24-hour online platforms, on which physicians and pharmacists answer health inquiries.

On May 5, Chaoyang put 200 car-hailing vehicles into service to meet emergency demand in controlled zones.

Yang Beibei, the district's deputy head, said at a news conference that more than 5,500 visits to hospitals were made by patients seeking medical services from April 22, when the outbreak started, to May 4. During the same period, over 14,000 inquiries about healthcare and medicines were answered.

"The control and prevention measures are aimed at curbing the spread of the virus. They should not prevent people receiving care," she said.

"We have detailed measures to ensure that people in lockdown, controlled and precautionary zones live normal lives, and we are deeply grateful for our citizens' support and cooperation during the epidemic."

Yao Yuxin contributed to this story.