In February 2020, Medical Missionary News sent the shipment of Personal Protective Equipment to Shanghai, China. This shipment was sent at a vital stage in the country’s response to COVID-19 with over 70,000 cases and over 2,000 deaths reported at that time, with the disease beginning its spread across the world.

On 31 December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organisation that there were several cases of an unusual illness in Wuhan, a port city on the Yangtze River. This was later named COVID-19, a deadly new coronavirus that would soon infect millions of people and unite the world in a global struggle.

This equipment was received by IHP’s partner Project Hope in Shanghai and was distributed to Shanghai Children’s Medical Centre (SCMC). SCMC is tertiary children’s hospital with 1,000 beds and a fever clinic. The equipment was to support frontline health workers playing a crucial role in containing the spread of COVID-19. As cases started to increase in Shanghai, and the need for intensive care rapidly increased, SCMC set up a quarantine ward to care for patients who had contracted the disease and prevent its spread.

The donated PPE was used among the doctors and nurses working in this quarantine unit, to keep them safe as they offered medical care to children in quarantine. The 9,000 masks and 1,875 protective coveralls would support medical staff at SCMC for the next 90 days.

Protecting Key Health Workers

Due to the widespread shortage of PPE, which is required to be removed and safely disposed of whenever staff leave a quarantine ward, medical staff needed to work for very long periods fo time, with no breaks, in order to preserve the limited supply of protective equipment.

Ms. Chen Lianli, Head Nurse of the quarantine unit, said “We work on 8-hour shifts. Due to the shortage of PPE, most of our nurses, refuse drinking water or (food) during their shift, in order to save a set of coveralls. Thank you IHP and Project HOPE for donating the PPE including mask and coveralls. Now...my colleagues (can) have some water and a meal during their shift.”

MMN’s support has enabled almost 11,000 pieces of protective equipment to be sent to this part of China, which has provided essential protection to medical staff in a real time of need. We are very grateful for this support and it has brought hope to those battling on the frontlines of this crisis. This hope is vital at a time when they are required to go above and beyond and experience great suffering to keep their communities safe.