Why I am so positive living through virus pandemic in China?

I see so many positive measures around me that make me feel safe and give me confidence Chinese government and private companies are trying to do everything in their power to overcame current challenge. The main focus here is to stop the virus from spreading, restore everyone's health and get global economy back to normal.

In many ways, China sets standards for future pandemics. Many of the enacted measures will be expected by people of the region where next pandemic will arise in the future.

Let me share some examples:

1. Temperature checks at all subway stations. Major cities including Shanghai and Beijing have installed temperature checks at all the stations. Note that they have the largest subway networks in the world. There are 751 temperature screening points at metro stations in Shanghai. These include 231 using thermal imagers and 520 using hand-held sensors.

2. Temperate checks at office buildings. All employees upon entering office lobby have their temperature checked. At my office building one security guard checks using the thermal imager and if a person has abnormal temperature second one uses ear thermometer to double check and write down temperate and personal information.

3. Plastic covers for elevator buttons. Office buildings and apartment buildings use variety of ways to prevent spread of germs on hands of the tenants. Some places cover and periodically change plastic foil over elevator buttons, other places install paper tissues to be used instead.

4. Delivery drop off points at apartments. To prevent spread of virus delivery personnel are required to drop off ordered items at designated locations instead of delivering items directly to tenants homes. Tables and designated drop off points were set up at the apartment complex entrances for residents to pick up themselves.

5. Mask rationing for city residents. Masks are sold out everywhere. In order to keep residents safe Shanghai is rationing 5 facemasks to every family. Residents or landlords can register at local community center and following confirmation call can pick up masks at local pharmacy. In a city of 31 million people that is lots of masks to distribute.

6. List of fever clinics. Soon after the corona virus was confirmed to transfer between people, Shanghai established 110 medical facilities with fever clinics. Residents are required to visit them whenever developing symptoms of corona virus. List in English with phone numbers to a specific medical professional in each hospital was included.

7. Visa and license deadline extensions. Foreigners who are affected by the pandemic and unable to extend Visa can be exempted from repercussions. And motorists who have drivers license about to expire or have valid temporary car plates can use them beyond the expiry date.

8. Hotline for locals and foreigners in 8 languages. All provinces and city municipalities have hotlines set up for both locals and foreigners to ask questions. Shanghai hotline is (021) 12345 and foreigners can receive consultation in any of seven languages other than Mandarin. These include English, Japanese, Korean, French, German, Spanish and Russian.

9. Building hospital in 10 days. China built 1000 bed hospital in Wuhan for corona virus patients in just 10 days. It finished another hospital for 1500 bends a few days later.

10. Subsidies for people on the front lines. In Shanghai and other cities individuals participating in epidemic prevention will be exempted from personal income tax, while value-added tax will be waived for taxpayers in sectors like transportation, catering and daily necessities delivery.

And private companies are not far behind:

11. Companies source needed medical equipment globally. Alibaba, Fosun and other companies have special teams set up that source and purchase masks and needed medical supplies globally. To aid the effort Alibaba, for example, set up a WeChat account where suppliers can register.

12. Companies provide loans to SMEs. Alibaba’s affiliate MYBank will provide a total of 20 billion yuan (US$2.87 billion) in loans to online merchants, with 10 billion yuan earmarked for those from Hubei Province, plus an interest-free period of three months. Ele.me and Koubei have set up a special support fund totaling 1 billion yuan for select nationwide chain restaurant operators. It will also offer 200 million yuan in subsidies for merchants and prioritize vendors of personal protection and sanitation products.

13. Medical equipment production. Putian, a city in Fujian province known for manufacturing sports equipment for Nike and Adidas, converted its factories in just 10 days to produce 1 million face masks a day. Similarly, BYD also set up factories to produce 5 million masks a day for its suppliers and affiliate companies. More than 3,000 Chinese companies, including energy giant Sinopec, have added masks, protective clothing, disinfectants, thermometers and medical devices to their registered business scope to meet demand. It takes a lot of masks to equip 1.4 billion people.

14. Major platforms waive service fees. Both Alibaba and JD have announced support for their users. Alibaba said it will waive platform service fees for all Tmall merchants for the first half of the year. JD also intends to waive service charges for online merchants. Vendors that sign contracts before the end of March can enjoy free warehouse facilities at JD's existing sites for up to 90 days.

15. Transportation companies sterilize vehicles. Didi Chuxing has set up sanitation service stations in 148 domestic cities to provide drivers with masks and sterilizers, among other protective measures to help sanitize vehicles and keep passengers safe. Both drivers and passengers are required to wear masks when taking rides.

And the list could go on and on. There are many more examples.

Taking a regular taxi recently local driver told me he used to work during the SARS pandemic almost 20 years ago. This time, his company gave him and other drives masks to use at work, during the SARS pandemic no one wore masks. He also showed me disinfectant spray that he uses after every passenger and told me he airs out the car before the next person he picks up.

Everyone is playing their role. From vast majority of all individuals that wear a mask to protect self and others, holiday travelers that agreed to cancel their travel plans even though they would lose a lot of money doing it, people staying at their homes for weeks, cleaning staff that disinfect and install special equipment, to medical staff on the front lines, everyone is trying their best to help.

This is why I feel so positive living in China through the current pandemic. We will together overcome this challenge!

#武汉加油 #中国加油