Local heroes help in the battle against epidemic

At 3 am on Jan 23, Wang Li received a message from a friend, who said Wuhan would be sealed off in seven hours and all public transportation was being suspended.

"I hesitated when my friend suggested that we should leave the city immediately," Wang said.

As a full-time driver for the carhailing platform Didi Chuxing, she realized that local residents would only be able to rely on private cars and taxies during the lockdown. "So, I chose to stay so that I could make a contribution to the journeys of patients and residents," she said.

The 29-year-old is no stranger to tough times, having survived the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan province.

"When the quake struck, I was in the new site of our school (in nearby Deyang), which had only been built two years before. The building was fine, so I didn't lose my life, but the old site of our school collapsed, resulting in the deaths of 240 students," she recalled.

It was arranged that she should finish high school in Beijing, and she was later awarded a yearlong internship in the capital because she had nowhere to live in her hometown.

"Many people lent a helping hand at that time. A reporter who covered the earthquake learned about my story when he returned to Beijing. He often visited me and my classmates, bringing books and showing us around the Bird's Nest (stadium)," Wang said.

"Since the day I survived the earthquake, every day has been a gift."

Although the coronavirus is highly infectious, Wang doesn't regard it as being worse than the earthquake. She believes it can be contained by medical technology.

Now, it is Wang's turn to support those in need.

She volunteered to offer transportation services, and was sent to a community with more than 2,000 residents in Wuchang. She was responsible for picking up people whose journeys were essential and also for transporting medical supplies to communities and hospitals.

"Usually, I transported seniors with chronic illnesses so they could get treatment at the hospital. I drove a woman in her 70s who has kidney failure to her regular dialysis session, but she refused my offer to help her walk into the hospital in case I got infected," Wang said.

To avoid becoming a mobile source of infection, she wore protective gowns during the entire volunteer period and sprayed disinfectant in the car after every trip.

In previous years, Wang has always spent Spring Festival with her mom, her only parent, in their hometown in Sichuan, but this year she made an exception.

"I didn't tell her about the volunteer work. I played down the epidemic so she would not worry too much, and comforted her by explaining that we were taking all the necessary precautionary measures. I told her that the only reason I could not be with her was the lockdown in Wuhan," she said.

Having moved to Wuhan for work in 2018, Wang decided to stay because she loves the local food. Now, she is considering bringing her mom to live with her in the city when the situation improves.