Volunteers help municipality through difficult times

Expatriate volunteers

In some neighborhoods with a high proportion of foreign residents, expatriates joined volunteers in explaining the grid-screening plan to their peers, telling them how to prepare the health QR code, and also helping to organize nucleic acid tests.

Eva Serrano, president of fashion retailer Inditex China, helped with nucleic acid testing at a residential neighborhood in Jing'an district. Like all other volunteers, she donned a blue vest bearing the words "keep 1 meter away from each other" on the back.

"All of society shoulders the responsibility for epidemic prevention and control work. When I saw medical professionals working day and night, I also wanted to contribute in one way or another," said Serrano, who registered herself and eight colleagues as volunteers.

Some expatriates working in Shanghai, especially those in the fields of medicine and public transportation, have also contributed to ensuring a public service by continuing to do their jobs.

Like many of his colleagues, Maskay Ashish, an orthopedic surgeon at Shanghai United Family Hospital, who comes from Nepal, took his sleeping bag to the office to ensure he could continue to serve the community in case buildings were locked down. More than 20 percent of the doctors at the hospital are from different parts of the world.

In 2017, Ashish founded Bloodline, a nonprofit association that encourages blood donations. Last week, 34 people who are registered with the association donated blood. Ashish, who has lived in Shanghai for 18 years, said he and his colleagues at the association would now help in the public health sector.