“As we got off the plane, we saw a huge banner reading ‘Tide over this difficult time through mutual assistance’ in both Chinese and Arabic. We were deeply touched,” recalled Chen Huai, a Chinese doctor dispatched to Iraq to help with its fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Chinese experts set up CT equipment in Baghdad, Iraq, on April 12. (Photo by Zhang Miao/Xinhua)

Chen, a chief physician of the radiology department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University in Guangzhou, capital of south China’s Guangdong province, is a member of the seven-member assistance team sent to Iraq by the Red Cross Society of China on March 7.

When China was in the most difficult time of its fight against the pandemic, all sectors of society in Iraq donated 78 tons of supplies to China, with the well-known line in a Chinese poem, “Someday, with my sail piercing the clouds; I will mount the wind, break the waves, and traverse the vast, rolling sea,” attached to the packages.

In return, the Chinese medical assistance team sent various anti-epidemic supplies to Iraq, including COVID-19 nucleic acid testing kits, face masks and protective suits, as well as rescue equipment for severe patients.

Chinese medical experts have quickly started their job to help Iraq fight the pandemic, despite the complicated situation of the country caused by warfare and the virus.

Amid gunshots heard from time to time, Chinese have focused their attention on sorting the China-donated materials, sharing information and experience with their local counterparts via videos, drafting epidemic prevention and control plans, training personnel, and spreading knowledge about the prevention of the pandemic.

During the first week since they arrived in Baghdad, capital of Iraq, all of the team members hadn’t slept for more than five or six hours a day, as they set out for distant cities at 7 a.m. every day, often unable to return before 11 p.m., trying to get in-depth understanding of the local situation.

Chinese experts’ suggestions have been quickly accepted, yielding positive effects in the country, with local residents starting to wear masks and some cities resuming curfew.

“They trust China’s experience very much. As there’s always too much to share and exchange with each other, many meetings which were scheduled to last for one hour were extended to more than two hours,” Chen disclosed.

From oil fields and power stations to bases of the United Nations (UN), the Chinese expert team visited various places and shared experience in fighting the disease without a stop.

At first, local medical workers called these Chinese experts “doctor”, later calling them “dear friend”.

The Chinese expert team also helped Baghdad build a new Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) laboratory at its Medical City facility to increase Iraq’s testing capacity for fighting the pandemic.

Inaugurated on March 25, the lab has conducted more than 2,000 tests so far, significantly relieving the pressing need for nucleic acid testing for COVID-19.

With genuine hope for helping the country contain the spread of the disease, Chinese experts have earnestly made efforts to help with the establishment of the lab. They have helped select the site, assemble equipment, and train medical workers.

Chinese people came here to help Iraq, said director general of the Medical City facility, emotional after seeing the efforts of Chinese experts and their faces that often become red and swollen after working with protective equipment for a long time.

Chinese experts have demonstrated humanitarian spirit, and that’s what has united Chinese people and Iraqi people, the director general said.

In fact, since the outbreak of the pandemic, China has always upheld the idea of building a community of a shared future for mankind, and provided support and help for countries who need them as much as it can.

Besides massive medical supplies and medical assistance teams, China has also offered the world a book on the COVID-19 titled Handbook of COVID-19 Prevention and Treatment.

The handbook covers such aspects of the efforts to combat the disease as prevention and control, diagnosis and treatment, as well as nursing care for severe patients.

It was jointly compiled by front-line medical workers of the First Affiliated Hospital of College of Medicine, Zhejiang University.

The hospital has, during its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, created the miracle of zero infection among medical workers, zero missed diagnosis for suspected cases, and zero deaths among confirmed patients.

Medical workers of the hospital hope to bring their experience in fighting the disease to their counterparts around the world, so as to help them avoid detours, said Qiu Yunqing, executive vice president of the hospital.

The handbook, whose Chinese version contains nearly 70 pages, has so far been translated into more than 10 languages, including Italian, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Persian, Indonesian, Serb and Arabic.

According to credible reports, local doctors in Italian hospitals now carry the handbook with them wherever they go.

On the Global MediXchange for Combating COVID-19, a platform established by China’s Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation to facilitate communication and collaboration across the globe for fighting COVID-19, the handbook has been read and downloaded by users from more than 200 countries and regions around the world.

Translation tasks regarding the handbook involved volunteers from various countries, with every one of them feeling honored to have the opportunity to help with the global fight against the pandemic.

Each version of the handbook contains a similar message as the following:

“This pandemic is a common challenge faced by mankind in the age of globalization. At this moment, sharing resources, experiences and lessons, regardless of who you are, is our only chance to win. The real remedy for this pandemic is not isolation, but cooperation.”