Acts of human kindness bring hope in challenging times

Hospital requests

Doctors and nurses at Shanghai's Ruijin Hospital are asking for media help in telling the public to stop sending supplies of food, which has flooded in since Lunar New Year's Eve on Jan 24.

The hospital is one of those in the municipality designated to receive suspected cases of infection from the novel coronavirus.

Every day, a variety of food and drink has arrived, accompanied by notes such as "Stay strong Shanghai! Pneumonia is doomed to be defeated!" and "From ordinary Shanghai residents".

The donations, which are piling up in an area of the hospital used by frontline medical staff members fighting the outbreak, include dumplings, pizza, spaghetti, hamburgers, eggs, cherries, coffee, fruit juice and even hairy crabs.

Medical staff members at the hospital joked that kind-hearted people were trying to ensure that they made up for the food they had missed during Spring Festival.

"Such kind actions from citizens have moved us, and more important, inspired us," said Zhou Jianping, a chief doctor in the Respiration Department of Ruijin Hospital Affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine.

For several days over the past week, dozens of cups of coffee have also been delivered to medical workers at the Central Hospital of Minhang District in the city, accompanied by messages such as "We're grateful for your hard work" and "From ordinary residents nearby".

Zhu Congying, a nurse in the Respiration Department, was one of the first to notice that food donations had been delivered to the hospital for several days running. "I feel very touched. I never expected to experience anything so moving," she said.

She added that the manager of one restaurant was so impressed by food donation orders placed by residents on Lunar New Year's Eve that he delivered the food to the hospital in person, as no express delivery services were available.

On another day, the hospital received nearly 100 cups of coffee with accompanying messages stating, "Angels in white, your hard work is appreciated."

Zhu Fan, a publicity officer at the hospital, said all its medical staff members thanked people for their support, but had called for such deliveries to stop, to prevent unnecessary waste.

In addition to food, facemasks and leggings for nurses have been delivered anonymously by residents to the hospital.

News that a couple in Shanghai made 150 loaves and 13 kg of cookies and sent them to doctors and nurses at four hospitals before dawn on the second day of Spring Festival went viral on social media platforms.