Shortly after the blockade and travel restrictions were issued, Wuhan was paralyzed, Wan Jiuxiong and his associates began to act.

The 27-year-old driver joined a volunteer group tasked with bringing medical workers to and from crowded hospitals crowded with infected and suspected new-strain coronavirus (nCoV).

It was on the end of January. Wan's first task was to take a nurse from home to Kim Ngan Dam Hospital, the main government-designated health facility to treat nCoV-infected patients.

Since the outbreak in late December in Wuhan, the nCoV acute pneumonia has killed more than 700 people and nearly 30,000 infected people, spread throughout China and to other countries as well.

Wan's passengers left in a hurry, unable to say "thank you" or "goodbye" but Wan didn't mind.

"In this difficult period, we Wuhan people have to save themselves. Everyone has work to do," Wan said.

Living in the middle of a epidemic and constantly in contact with people at high risk, Wan always pays close attention to taking preventive measures. Since accepting the volunteer work, every morning he goes to work, he does not forget to bring a large mask bag, a bottle of tinctures and a bottle of disinfectant. Every two to three hours, he changed his mask again and spent half an hour disinfecting the car after taking a medical staff to a safe destination.

"I am not worried that I will be infected, but I am afraid that the medical staff I transport will cross-infection. They still have to save the lives of many others," he said.

Wan is one of hundreds of volunteers who have been helping to keep the blood vessels of millions of Wuhan people alive these days.

After imposing a blockade on January 23 and suspending all buses and subways, the city government has deployed 6,000 taxis to help transport medical supplies and bring asymptomatic patients to the disease. institute. People with fever can only be transported by special isolation facilities of the disease control agency. But each residential area can only coordinate 3-4 taxis, which is not enough for crowded places with thousands of people.

This gap is partly offset by car owners like Wan. They formed groups on the WeChat social network to take pick-up and drop-off requests, and quickly get anywhere they needed to be.

Wan joins four such WeChat groups, each with over 100 members, including drivers and medical staff. Most shuttles are scheduled the night before, but some members of the group are willing to leave if there is an urgent request.

The Chinese social network is flooded with posts by Wuhan residents crying in despair over the plague and pleading for help. Although the government is committed to providing maximum support to the city, the fact that these grants are not enough to ease the situation. Therefore, ordinary people like Wan must bear the responsibility of replacing the government, doing everything in their power to help Wuhan to step through the difficult situation even though they have to bear great risks.

On February 4, Wan came to support a man for help online. His parents' health was very weak but he still had to wait for hospital treatment. His mother was diagnosed with nCoV, and his father was also suspected of being infected from his mother.

The Chinese government once said that an asymptomatic person can still transmit the virus but now they are not sure. As of 6/2, Wan still has no symptoms and he does not know if he has passed the virus to his parents. He did not want to think about that situation.

"Wuhan is ill and we want to cure it," he said.

In addition to transporting medical doctors, some volunteer groups also transport medical supplies and supplies to the hospital. Others take responsibility for providing accommodation and meals for overworked doctors and nurses.

For Chen Hui, 52, the owner of a transportation business in Wuhan, the company's refrigerated trucks are showing a surprising effect. Her first volunteer assignment was to transfer 900 meals from a restaurant to nearby hospitals. So far, she has transported thousands of meals, fruits and masks, goggles, protective clothing to the hospital.

Chen participated in 10 WeChat volunteer groups, some with up to 500 members. She also formed a group of 24 car owners to contact the sponsor and the recipient before sending the driver volunteered to transport.

She receives thousands of WeChat messages every day, often late at night. Chen always tries to get up early to answer messages and make calls to coordinate work. She is very proud of the volunteers in her group, who only knew nothing about each other two weeks ago.

"These young people are really excellent," she said. Chen said once a volunteer named Yang Jin confessed to her that he was afraid of contracting the virus because he was living with his parents and had a 4-year-old child. Even so, his working spirit is still extremely positive, unchanged.

Because of the busy schedule, Chen and the others often skip meals and only eat cookies or snacks on the road.

"The work with volunteers like us is extremely difficult. We only have enthusiasm. Wuhan is sick, we all want to cure it by working together," Chen said.

The network of volunteers has expanded from Wuhan to other cities in Hubei Province.

Fan, over 30 years old, an insurance broker, returned to his hometown Xiangyang village, about 300 km from Wuhan, a few days before the city ordered a blockade.

On WeChat, Fan organized a group of 30 drivers to bring medical workers, who just returned to their hometown to celebrate Tet, from northwestern Hubei back to Wuhan to share the burden with their colleagues here.

The main highways in the province have been closed to restrict the means to prevent the virus from spreading, so Fan often had to apply for special permission before every long trip of the group members volunteering.

All vehicles must be disinfected before traveling and again after taking medical personnel to Wuhan. From here, volunteers in Wuhan, such as Wan and Chen's teams, will pick them up and take them to hospitals.

Since January 25, Fan's team has brought nearly 300 medical personnel from other parts of the province to Wuhan. But on February 4, Fan said he could not continue his work. "We have run out of masks," he said.

Fans and drivers had to buy masks at first, but the financial situation became increasingly tight. Last week, Fan called for help from local authorities but received a surprise answer. "They told me to go ahead and take care of my own work and not violate the restriction on travel from the government by 'smuggling' Wuhan people back to Wuhan," he said.

Fan's parents, both farmers, tried to encourage him. "They told me that I do this not for the authorities. I do this for the community. So, the next day, I will continue my work," Fan said.

He Hui, a volunteer, died on January 3 of nCoV infection, Chinese media reported. The 54-year-old driver took medical workers to a hospital in Wuhan. Upon hearing the news, Fan was shocked. "It was a big shock for me," he said. "At first, I didn't know what to do. But after He 's case, I decided to stop the group. I could not guarantee the safety of the volunteers in my group."

However, Fan confirmed that he will resume activities if he finds enough masks and goggles for the team. Fan said he was moved by the famous video shared on the Douyin application that showed a young female doctor riding a bike for 4 days, crossing 300 km to return to Wuhan to support colleagues.

"I was touched by the actions of the female doctor Wuhan," Fan wrote in a WeChat post calling for support for masks and goggles. "I have decided to volunteer again and continue to bring medical personnel to the Wuhan front line. When we have enough protective gear, we will leave again," he asserted.