Thousands of teams help Zhejiang fight COVID-19

Zhejiang province has organized thousands of special teams to distribute daily necessities and medical supplies to residents in rural areas, to fight against the surge in COVID-19 infections.

More than 10,000 teams were assembled, according to Li Qiang, an official of the Organization Department of the Zhejiang Party Committee, during a news conference on Dec 25.

The teams include more than 300,000 social workers, Party members and community cadres, delivery workers, volunteers and others.

In addition to helping with groceries and sending medical supplies to children, patients with underlying diseases, people with limited mobility and patients who receive home-based treatment in rural areas of Zhejiang, the teams also offer services to residents — especially seniors — including home-care and companionship, Li said.

Li said Zhejiang will pay special attention to children, the elderly and people with underlying diseases during the upcoming Spring Festival and will seek to guarantee the supply of daily necessities and meet people's needs for medication and medical treatment.

So far, more than 80,000 villages and communities in the province have set up special teams to cover their geographical grids. Social workers are assigned to help deal with problems the residents face in each area.

"The teams have helped relieve our worries," said Fang Huafen, secretary of the Lucheng community committee in Linhai's Gucheng subdistrict, where 228 teams have been dispatched to deliver medicines to the elderly, help them purchase daily necessities and provide various care services.

With a permanent population of 25,000, the community has more than 5,000 people over the age of 60, many of whom live alone, are incapacitated or have severe diseases.

In the city's mountainous Youxi township, where lack of medical resources is more acute, 23 teams have been sent to assess the needs of residents for medications and other services. They have provided one-on-one and door-to-door delivery services for vulnerable groups, especially poor households, the elderly who live alone, children and the disabled.

Residents are also encouraged to take the initiative to share medicines and help each other.

Across Zhejiang, the special teams have been actively performing their tasks in cities such as Hangzhou, Ningbo, Shaoxing and Wenzhou.

In the past two weeks, authorities in the province have been dispensing kits containing fever medicine, sanitizers and masks free of charge to residents over the age of 60.

Zhejiang has entered the COVID-19 infection peak, the Zhejiang Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday. To mitigate the health risks, the province has stepped up efforts to improve its capacity to provide pre-emergency hospitalization services for COVID-19 patients.

Fang Xiaoying in Hangzhou contributed to this story.