GUANGZHOU: For Liu Jiayi, a 20-year-old nurse, the city of Wuhan is significant in many ways. It is the furthest distance she has ever been from home, and the month she spent there battling COVID-19 was the longest period she had been away from her parents.
Liu comes from the city of Huizhou, Guangdong Province, about 1,000 km south to Wuhan. She was the youngest member of the medical-assistance team dispatched by the province to assist with Wuhan’s battle against the novel coronavirus. She volunteered to join the team during the Lantern Festival in February. Finishing her night shift, she took off early the next morning.
“If I hadn’t been able to go to Wuhan, I would have regretted it,” said Liu, describing her feeling on seeing the urgent message summoning medics to Wuhan. “It was the first major decision I had ever made without discussion with my parents.”
Liu was sent to a makeshift hospital in Dongxihu District, and her main battlefield was a six square-meter room connecting the contaminated areas with the clean ones. Here, she helped other medical workers, cleaners and security guards take off their protective gowns and disinfect their personal items. Due to her young age, she was very much in the media spotlight. During one interview, she insisted that she was not “a child that needs the help of others.” Giving the thumbs-up gesture for her colleagues and herself, she said, “The moment I put on the protective suit, I am no longer a child.” – Agencies
