UM FHS members make contribution to combat the COVID-19 pandemic

Led by the leadership of the Macao Government and through the mitigating efforts of the Macao citizens in undergoing the Dynamic COVID-Zero Strategy, community transmission chains were terminated and the community was gradually back on track after the fight against COVID-19 for over one month. During that severe epidemic time, the members of the University of Macau (UM) Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS), including the professors, the students and the staff, collaborated with the Macao Government to soldier on in the face of adversity.

Associate Professor Hongjie ZHANG was eager to take up the responsibility of protecting Macao in the fight against the virus as a citizen of this city. She was responsible for distributing anti-epidemic materials to the registration counters at the nucleic acid test station. As the station was flooded with a continuous stream of citizens for nucleic acid tests, Prof. Zhang was on the go all day long to keep the counters enough of the anti-epidemic materials. This task was seemingly simple but not simple as it was quite a physical feat. Prof. Zhang said that she was glad to have this brand new experience in trying something which is totally different from her daily academic work, and it was particularly meaningful.

Yi XU, the fourth-year undergraduate student of Biomedical Sciences, was on a knife-edge every day when the internet was full of the news of the epidemic. She felt a worm of unease when there was a continuous rise of confirmed cases during the outbreak. She immediately took up the voluntary work with no hesitation when the Student Affair Office of UM appealed to all the students to provide support in the frontline anti-epidemic work. She was then assigned to the caring station for providing logistical support in keeping order. She assisted in directing citizens, providing instructions, checking health codes and results of rapid antigen tests, and responded to the enquiries at the entrance under the heat of the sun. She said that the voluntary work was much harder than her expectation. With the support of her family members, she has never run out of steam, hoping to bring contribution to relieve the pressure of the frontline staff.

Research Assistant Chelsia CHAU made her first try in being a volunteer at the nucleic acid test station. She was assigned to assist the citizens with yellow health codes in registration. Although she had concern for the risk of being infected, she was quick to take up the gauntlet with the belief that the city cannot be safeguarded without the tireless effort, devotion and selfless commitment of every citizen. She still remembered vividly that her protective suit which was as thin as a film was soaked in sweat after working just for a while. This made her pay homage to the frontline staff who worked in the nucleic acid test stations and the outdoors of the red or yellow code zones. Chelsia said that she would join hands and make every effort in the battle against novel coronavirus.

Leong Hong LAM, the administrative staff of FHS, was glad to make scanty contribution to crusade against the COVID-19, who has responded to the call of UM to take up the voluntary work in the nucleic acid test stations for several times during the epidemic. He was grateful to his office colleagues who provided back-up support for his administrative work, allowing him to fling himself into the voluntary service free from distraction. Since his wife was also part of the voluntary team, he and his wife took turn to make sure at least one of them was at home for elderly and child care. For the protection of his family, Leong Hong underwent a thorough disinfection every time after the voluntary work. As preoccupying with the administration work of the daily operation of the research laboratories in FHS, Leong Hong often returned to office when he was not assigned to provide voluntary service.

Throughout the unprecedented outbreak of COVID-19, in despite of hardships and challenges, the FHS members joined hands to support diverse emergency operations to undertake the social responsibilities in safeguarding the public health of Macao, the place we call home, with full dedication and team cohesion.