Volunteers on the front line of prevention in Xinbang

Li Yubo and Yang Yang

VOLUNTEERS from Songjiang’s Xinbang Town worked at checkpoints and airports during the COVID-19 outbreak when the focus of control and prevention work shifted to imported novel coronavirus cases.

Chen Yufeng, a community worker in the town and a probationary Party member, enrolled as a volunteer at the G60 Fengjing checkpoint in the district on February 4 to check people’s temperatures.

Chen was on duty for more than a month, sometimes in the cold and sleet, and stayed at the volunteer group’s resting place at night.

A phone call on March 6 asked him if he would like to work as an airport volunteer. Chen returned home, packed his case and headed to Pudong International Airport where he was in charge of sending passengers heading for Songjiang to their quarantine place.

“From being a checkpoint volunteer safeguarding our city to being an airport volunteer safeguarding our country, I am feeling a sense of mission and the responsibility to fulfill my job,” said Chen.

Hu Jie, a medical worker from Xinbang Community Health Service Center, worked three shifts in February at the G60 Fengjing checkpoint to safeguard Shanghai’s southwest entrance.

In March she also received a call asking her to assist at the airport.

There she once worked nonstop for 15 hours. With only two disposable protective suits a day, she often didn’t eat or drink anything to avoid having to use the bathroom. She would occasionally miss her meal time when her task was demanding.