China continues to help Philippines fight Covid-19

A TEAM of Chinese medical experts sent by Beijing to help the Philippines fight the spread of the novel coronavirus, or Covid-19, are racing against time to render all necessary assistance to stop the deadly respiratory disease from further infecting the country of 108 million population.

The Philippines has recorded over 5,000 Covid-19 cases since March and more than 300 are dead from the virus which originally broke out in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year and eventually spread in 210 countries and territories affecting nearly 2 million people.

Ambassador Huang Xilian

China’s Ambassador to the Philippines, Huang Xilian, said a team of 12 Chinese medical experts are closely working with the Department of Health and met extensively with public health officials and professionals. He said the medical team visited front-line medical agencies such as the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Lung Center of the Philippines and Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center.

“In the past several days, the expert team has been racing against time to render all necessary assistance” he said, adding, they also shared experience and practice on Covid-19 prevention and control, diagnosis and treatment, as well as personal protection with Filipino counterparts.

 Chinese medical experts at the Philippine General Hospital.

China managed to control the spread of Covid-19 in Wuhan in Hubei province which is now slowly rising up again from the devastation left by the virus. More than 3,000 people were dead from the virus and over 82,000 confirmed cases in China since it was first reported.

Huang praised Chinese President Xi Jinping in addressing the pandemic. “Since the outbreak of Covid-19 in China, the Chinese people under President Xi Jinping’s leadership, have worked as one and made arduous efforts and tremendous sacrifice to fight against the virus. Today fundamental progress has been made in China’s pandemic prevention and control measures, with local transmission successfully stemmed,” he said.

With plenty of first-hand feasible information and knowledge collected by Beijing during the pandemic, Huang said they are sharing all this now with Manila to help the Philippines combat the virus.

Quoting China’s great ancient poet Li Bai, Huang said: “True friendship is revealed through adversity, and success becomes nothing when it is not shared” and “as a true friend, China feels keenly for the Philippine government and people amid the difficult times of combating the epidemic. That’s why the medical expert team has been soon dispatched to share all that we know about the pandemic with the Philippine side, with the purpose of improving its ability of pandemic prevention and control as well as diagnosis and treatment, so as to boost the confidence of the public in overcoming the COVID-19. It is our sincere hope that the dawn of victory will come at an earlier date.”

Facing the Covid-19 outbreak, Huang said “China and the Philippines have been supporting and helping each other, demonstrating our long-standing profound friendship as close neighbors, trusted friends and good brothers.”

Huang even quoted a Filipino saying: “A broom is sturdy because its strands are tightly bound” and further claimed that “people gain strength by standing together in the spirit of Bayanihan.”

“We recall that at the most difficult moment in our fight, the Philippine government donated a batch of well-needed relief goods to China, and massive support were also shown by the Philippine people from all walks of life. China also stands in solidarity with the Philippines in light of the pandemic situation,” he said, recalling the Chinese Embassy in cooperation with the China Mammoth Foundation, donated 2,000 Covid-19 test kits to the Filipino government.

It was on top of Beijing’s donation to the Duterte government of 100,000 test kits, 310,000 surgical masks, 40,000 medical N95 masks and 15,000 medical protective suits, including 5,000 medical face shields, and 30 non-invasive ventilators.

Moreover, Huang said Fujian, Hainan, Shandong, Guangzhou, Nanning and many other sister provinces and cities to the Philippines, as well as a number of enterprises and civil groups such as Jack Ma Foundation, Hong Kong Prudential Enterprise, Huawei, Bank of China also donated medical supplies to different local governments.

“We will continue to provide our best support and assistance as the Philippine side’s needs arise. Benevolence and kindness are best known during trying times. As the Covid-19 wreaked havoc in many countries around the globe, China never stood by and left its friends in difficulty. Despite the unhealed wound inflicted by the epidemic and a rebound in indigenous cases, we have reached out to other countries affected at the latter’s request,” he said.

“Virus respects no borders nor distinguishes between races. People and countries around the world must work together if we want to prevail over the pandemic,” he added.

President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly praised Xi for helping the Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)

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