U.K.-based Qiu Fan had been busy sourcing anti-epidemic materials across Europe for China during the Chinese New Year when his home country was at the peak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Qiu, chairman of Shenzhen Chamber of Commerce in the United Kingdom, which he set up in 2016, managed to locate a reliable supplier for face masks in South Korea after shifting their focus to other Asian countries as there had been limited stocks in Europe.
Qiu had the face masks, as well as other anti-epidemic materials he and other British Chinese helped raised, shipped to China.
“The face masks we purchased in South Korea are a little pricey, but they are of great quality, which is more important,” said Qiu, adding that he bore the responsibility for the quality of the anti-epidemic materials they donated.
In March, Qiu’s Shenzhen Chamber of Commerce in the United Kingdom and other private commercial organizations donated another batch of epidemic prevention gear, including 3,000 medical masks and 800 pieces of protective clothing, to Shenzhen after learning that his beloved home city was running out of the anti-epidemic materials.
“I have always been a Shenzhener,” said Qiu, adding that he was born and raised in Shenzhen until he relocated to the United Kingdom 30 years ago. He started his own business in Britain after finishing his studies.
Meanwhile, Qiu had started stocking up on face masks and told the members of his commerce chamber to do so to brace for COVID-19 before it broke out in the United Kingdom, the Daily Sunshine reported Thursday.
“I have gone through the SARS outbreak back in 2003, and I learned it from the SARS experience that face masks are important [in preventing an infectious respiratory disease from spreading further],” said Qiu.
He donated face masks and other COVID-19 prevention supplies to two local medical institutions after the epidemic started spreading in Britain. But few local people wore masks. Worried as he was, Qiu put his stock of masks up for sale at their cost prices online, hoping to help those who were looking for masks. He also gave out masks for free to people around him who needed a face mask.
There are a large number of Chinese students studying in the United Kingdom and many of them failed to fly home before the U.K. Government imposed a national lockdown responding to the spreading of the coronavirus in the country.
After learning that the parents back in China were terribly worried, Qiu’s chamber of commerce reached out to more than 50 students from Shenzhen and Guangzhou in the United Kingdom, providing them with information on local medical resources and psychological consulting. Qiu updated the students on the development of the epidemic in a WeChat group for the students stranded in the United Kingdom.
“I would definitely lend a hand when China was in need for help. But when things were bad in the United Kingdom, I would try not to bring the troubles in the U.K. to China,” Qiu said.
Qiu helped form a medical team with seven traditional Chinese medicine practitioners in his commerce chamber to provide treatment to more than 20 local infected people, who otherwise would not have had medical treatment.
As the number of people infected with the coronavirus keeps increasing, the United Kingdom has experienced shortages of medical workers and anti-epidemic materials.
Considering that many Chinese students stranded in Britain didn’t have access to face masks, the Chinese Embassy in London initiated a program to distribute a health pack, which contains 40 surgical masks, a thermometer and two packets of drugs, to Chinese students in the United Kingdom.
Feng Ziqin, who is studying for a master’s degree in Glasgow University after graduating from Sun Yat-sen University in 2019, said she had been moved to tears upon receiving the health pack April 11.