Editor's note: In the battle with the COVID-19 epidemic, more and more fighters are coming to its front lines, including students and former students of the Open University of China (OUC). Like other fighters, no matter how ordinary, they are contributing what they can. Let's take a close look at some of their stories.
The first day of any Chinese Lunar New Year is for visiting relatives and friends. In Benxi this year, however, with the first confirmed case of novel coronavirus pneumonia, it felt forlorn. Yet it also brought out the best in people such as Yang Kebin, a cadre responsible for propaganda for the Youth League Committee of Ben Gang Group Thermal Heat Development, and a junior-college Computer major at Benxi Radio and TV University (Benxi RTVU) in the autumn class of 2019.
"We used to think of COVID-19 as far away. But with the first confirmed case here, we had to think differently."
On the first day in the Chinese Lunar New Year, Yang Kebin was awakened by an urgent call to learn that a COVID-19 case had been confirmed within the area covered by his company. His task: to disseminate information about how to control transmission.
He immediately went online to search for official materials, and after classifying them into policies, prevention, news, and so on, posted them to the company’s WeChat group.
Inspired by the medical workers risking their lives to help out in Wuhan, he wrote a letter to apply to join one of the teams being formed by his company to help control the spread of the virus and safeguard supplies.
When the supplies arrived, to his delight, the team immediately distributed 3,022 masks, 285 kgs of disinfectant, 50 kgs of disinfectant, 61 kgs of medical alcohol, and 240 bottles of antibacterial hand sanitizer. Yang Kebin and his team went from branch to branch and team to team, from the urban area to Nanfen, and from there to Waitoushan
In order to ensure safety, they cleared snow on the main roads, and cleaned snow and ice from eaves as well.
During heating season, workers often need to visit homes for maintenance, and Yang Kebin and his colleagues continued to do so despite the situation, wanting to ensure that homes remained warm.
Yang Kebin has recorded the actions of his team in videos, and their positive energy has inspired other young people to join.
By OUC News Network