Shenzhen has collected more than 3 billion yuan (US$424 million) worth of donations in the fight against COVID-19 as of June 5, said an executive with Shenzhen Charity Alliance at a press conference organized by the Shenzhen Municipal Government Information Office on Thursday.
Liu Guoling, executive vice president and secretary general of the alliance, said the organization has been actively galvanizing all sectors of society to support the prevention and control of the pandemic since the outbreak of COVID-19.
Shenzhen One Foundation, for instance, has cooperated with more than 1,200 public welfare partners and volunteers from 91 charitable organizations in Hubei Province, and sent 24 batches of materials to the virus-hit province.
Tencent has pledged to donate 300 million yuan to set up the first-phase COVID-19 prevention and control fund. Evergrande donated 200 million yuan to Wuhan’s headquarters for the prevention and control of the disease, while Vanke donated 100 million yuan to the Wuhan branch of the Red Cross Society of China.
Fang Tao, executive vice president of Shenzhen Charity Federation, said the federation has raised 408 million yuan in money and anti-epidemic materials as of May 31 this year, of which 95.11 million yuan has been donated to Hubei.
Apart from mobilizing social forces to join in the virus fight, Shenzhen’s civil affairs system has been vigorously carrying out measures to protect residents with special needs.
According to Liao Yuanfei, head of the city’s civil affairs bureau, since Jan. 28 the bureau has implemented closed management on 48 elderly care service institutions and three child welfare institutions, which have reported zero COVID-19 cases so far.
Three relief management stations have implemented closed management in different areas and 46 temporary shelters have been set up across the city, said Liao.
Social organizations and social workers have also been playing a critical role during the epidemic, providing both online and offline caring services for disadvantaged groups and people under quarantine.
Zhang Zhuohua, vice president and secretary general of Shenzhen Social Worker Association, said 4,971 social workers from 47 agencies had worked on the front lines during the Spring Festival.
At present, nearly 10,000 social workers in Shenzhen have returned to work, he said.