Yang Yan (R), an employee with Shekou Management and Service Center, offered service for expats at a nucleic acid test site in Rose Garden housing estate in Shekou on Monday evening, the eve of the International Women’s Day. Courtesy of SMSCE
Four female social workers, young and born after 1995, often lighthearted and smiling, become serious and meticulous once they don their protective clothing and face shields to battle the pandemic.
At the main entrance of Weizai Community in Shekou Subdistrict, which was locked down due to COVID-19 prevention and control, these four women working at the Shekou Management and Service Center for Expats (SMSCE), became the community’s first line of defense in its fight against the pandemic.
Xiao Peishan, an SMSCE employee, said that their service post was the first place where medical employees started to conduct door-to-door nucleic acid tests for 6,000 households in the neighborhood’s 129 buildings.
“The medical employees generally start with the data we provide before they start door-to-door nucleic acid tests and they return the data after they finish the tests,” Xiao said in a phone interview yesterday.
“Our duty is to verify and make sure each household’s information is correct and ensure every request is properly answered,” Xiao added.
Every time after sample collection finishes after 10 a.m., the team had to compare the number of nucleic acid test participants with the actual number of residents, with work lasting until midnight. After the verification, they need to update and prepare new data for medical employees for the next round of tests.
“On the first two days, we were very busy and tired because of the huge data in urban villages and many discrepancies we need to correct. We worked nonstop until 2 a.m. and got up at 5 a.m. to prepare work for the second day,” Xiao recalled. Xiao called them invisible women behind medical workers, whose data provided a solid foundation for implementing COVID-19 prevention and control measures.
“Data collection and verification may seem trivial, but it is vital for COVID-19 prevention and control. We often worked until midnight to make sure every data is correct,” Xiao said.
With their post located at the entrance to the urban village, Xiao and her colleagues face numerous inquiries and requests for help such as seeing doctors and taking medications, parcels and mails, where they need to respond the first time and then communicate with related departments about handling ‘trivial’ matters.
“Though I’m often tired, I was moved to see so many people sparing no efforts in the fight against the pandemic and I felt honored to be part of this fight,” Xiao said.
Another social worker, Yang Yongqi, was reminded of the days preparing for the National College Examination because of her routine of rising early and going to bed late working in pandemic prevention and control.
Meanwhile, going beyond her duties, Liang Rongjia often assisted medical employees when needed and sometimes recorded her colleague’s life in the urban village on her phone. Unfortunately, due to time pressing tasks at work, Liang missed her mother’s 50th birthday celebration and she hoped to contribute her part and complete the task so that everyone could reunite with their families earlier.
Huang Cui, a newcomer at SMSCE, has been working in her new post for 10 days. Huang was assigned a new task at Weizai village, and she rushed to get there at 7:30 a.m. from Luohu by taking the earliest Metro train. “It is an honor to do my part for the city I love and hope every colleague, every medical employee and every resident is safe and sound,” Huang said.
According to Yang Yan, the director of all SMSCE’s nine staff members divided in three groups, had joined the fight against COVID-19 either by answering hotline inquiries from expats, or offering services at nucleic acid test sites in prevention areas or busy serving at lockdown and controlled areas.