Private medical supply firm Qingdao Baheal Medical Inc has donated more than 20,000 face masks, towels and other daily supplies to a temporary COVID-19 hospital in Shanghai.
The hospital mainly houses children and their parents.
The facility at the Shanghai New International Expo Center in the Pudong New Area has received 22,000 child masks, 2,000 adult masks, 1,000 child towels, 2,000 boxes of child calcium tablets and 1,000 boxes of crayons from the firm.
Some of the supplies are urgently needed for children at the facility.
The hospital, which opened on March 31, can accommodate up to 15,000 patients with mild COVID-19 symptoms and asymptomatic infections.
Its family section of 880 beds, under the charge of the Shanghai Children’s Medical Center affiliated to the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and a medical team from central China’s Hubei Province, is fully occupied.
“These supplies have met the daily demand of the children and their families,” said the medical center in a letter to the donor company.
After learning that the family section of the makeshift hospital in Shanghai was short of protective gear and daily supplies, the company responded quickly and urgently transferred products from Qingdao, in east China’s Shandong Province, to Shanghai.
The supplies are expected to help the children get through the quarantine period safely and smoothly, as well as support medical workers at the makeshift hospital.
“Apart from daily necessities such as masks and towels, we hope the crayons will bring some peace and happiness to the children under central quarantine,” a company official said.
Since some children cannot see the sun every day, the company also donated the calcium tablets for their health and growth.
It was a challenging task to transport the supplies from Qingdao to Shanghai amid the city’s COVID-19 prevention and control measures, the official said.
The cargo flight first booked was canceled due to the pandemic. The company later managed to arrange a cargo truck at high cost. It took a week for the supplies to arrive in Shanghai.
Hynaut, another Qingdao medical supply company, has donated face masks.
“We also want to thank Shanghai Daily for letting us know about the difficulties facing the makeshift hospital,” the official said.
The medical center asked for help in early April as children’s daily necessities, such as diapers, masks, baby formula and napkins, were in short supply.
After learning about it, Shanghai Daily called for donations, drawing an immediate response from many companies.
“We’d like to pay high respect to the compassionate companies who have been fighting alongside us in this white war against the COVID-19 pandemic,” the medical center applauded.