Coronavirus: Wuhan university sends lifeline to Sydney medics fighting coronavirus
Sydney medics on the frontline of the coronavirus emergency are being sent masks from an unlikely source, their Chinese counterparts in Wuhan where the virus originated.
Manly
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Doctors and nurses on the frontline of the coronavirus emergency in Sydney are being sent a lifeline from an unlikely place – Wuhan, the epicentre of COVID-19.
Medics at Huazhong University of Sciences and Technology heard about the plight of Sydney health workers who are fast running out of protective gear and have promised to send 5000 masks.
They will go to those working at Royal North Shore Hospital, which has 750 beds.
President of Huazhong University Professor Yuanyuan Li said they were keen to help.
“When the coronavirus broke out in China, we received generous support from our more than 40 partner universities from 16 countries and regions, for which we are truly grateful,” he said.
“Now the situation in China has improved, we feel obligated to contribute in return.”
Danielle Somers, Associate Director of the Office for Global Health at the University of Sydney, said Huazhong University of Sciences and Technology offered to donate 3000 masks, but upped it to 5000 when they heard how desperate the situation was in Australia.
Hospitals across NSW have reported low stocks of protective equipment such as masks and eyewear as well as hand sanitiser.
Chief executive officer of Northern Beaches Hospital Andrew Newton told staff in a newsletter this week that protective equipment would become more difficult to obtain in the weeks and months ahead and was suggesting people wash their hands with soap if they can rather than use hand sanitiser, which was already scarce.
It comes as the number of people in NSW with coronavirus hit 1219, with 16 patients in intensive care units and numbers expected to rise steeply in the next few weeks.
Ms Somers said the two universities had been working together by sharing data to try and get ahead of the virus, when colleagues in China heard about the shortages.
“We are running out of personal protective equipment,” Ms Somers said.
“They offered 3000 masks but we asked if they had any more and the increased it to 5000.
“These masks will go to doctors, nurses, radiographers, people behind desks, anyone who needs them because everyone needs to go home to their families at the end of the day.”
The masks will be sent to the university’s Northern Clinical School, a teaching facility based at Royal North Shore Hospital.
In the meantime the two universities are sharing data and information as part of a global effort to get on top of the pandemic.
“We are all at different stages,” Ms Somers said.
“Everyone is sharing information.
“I think we can learn from each other.”
Associate Professor Chris Dennis, Head of Northern Clinical School at the University of Sydney, said it was incredibly heartening to see the support the health community is providing to each other.
He said the masks “will help protect our staff in the Northern Sydney Local Health District who are providing critical medical and health care for the community”.