Milk, love sent to quarantined baby warm hearts

A relay of love and breast milk has moved many in the New Year holiday after an 8-month-old in Beijing went into COVID-19 quarantine alone with its dad.

The story began on Thursday, the last day of 2020, when the mom and grandma were both confirmed to be infected with COVID-19. As close contacts, the dad and the baby had to be put under observation in a quarantine site.

As a novice in babysitting, the dad became nervous. And the baby, in completely strange surroundings, without mom or grandma nearby, was even more agitated, refusing to drink baby formula.

To help feed the infant, a relay of love began, which has lasted into the New Year.

That afternoon, a call for help circulated among grassroots officials for women's affairs in Shunyi district of Beijing, where the family lives.

The message read: "An 8-month-old is under quarantine, in urgent need of fresh or frozen breast milk. Please contact me as soon as possible if you can offer."

The message prompted officials for women's affairs in the 25 towns and streets of the district to look everywhere for breastfeeding moms.

Before long, they got a phone call from Xu Yue, who was on maternity leave, offering all 20 bags of frozen milk originally intended for her own daughter.

An official, Lyu Xiaoning, drove over to fetch the milk to the quarantine site. After disinfecting every bag, the milk was delivered to the baby's room by medical workers.

And the hotel where the quarantine took place also offered a refrigerator to freeze the remaining milk.

In the evening, the baby was served the heated breast milk. To the relief of the dad, it happily accepted the milk.

More and more people offered a helping hand. By Saturday morning, five breastfeeding moms offered their frozen milk.

But milk wasn't the only gift received. A crib, mattress, quilt, milk heater, toys and clothes were delivered to the quarantine hotel. A doctor has also offered to help instruct the dad how to take care of the baby.

Now the baby is in good spirits once again.

Netizens gave the news a thumbs-up, with many saying they were moved to tears.