Han Ximin ximhan@126.com A TEAM of volunteers consisting of more than 50 South Koreans and Chinese interpreters has assembled in Nanshan District to serve residents from South Korea living in the district, according to the Shekou Management and Service Center for Expats in Nanshan yesterday. The team serves South Koreans arriving in Shenzhen, taking them to designated quarantine places after virus testing, ensuring they fill out complete registration information and escorting patients, if confirmed as having COVID-19, to a hospital for treatment. The team was initiated as the city beefs up efforts to prevent more imported COVID-19 cases following one confirmed imported case Sunday. Travelers from countries and regions with severe COVID-19 outbreaks arriving in Guangdong Province, regardless of nationality, are required to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine. At Peninsula, a housing estate in Shekou Subdistrict, 56 passengers arriving from epidemic-hit countries are staying at home under the 14-day self-quarantine measure, according to management. On Feb. 28, an Asiana Airlines plane transported 192 South Koreans to Shenzhen, 161 with Nanshan District as their destination. Since then, flights between Shenzhen and Seoul, South Korea, have been canceled. “In our WeChat group with those in quarantine, volunteers and community work stations and property management workers can respond to their requests promptly, including answering inquiries, delivering food and vegetables, and collecting garbage,” Yang Yan, director of the Shekou Management and Service Center for Expats, said at an interview yesterday. Nanshan has the largest expat population in Shenzhen, with more than 8,000 registered with the center. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, many international volunteers have joined their Chinese counterparts to offer both online and offline community services, according to the Nanshan International Cultural Exchange and Service Center. “Volunteers are in big demand in communities. In one day, we deployed seven volunteers to help residents under quarantine,” said Yang. She said the center received a call for help from the South Korean Consulate General in Guangzhou yesterday, and sent a doctor and an interpreter to a home in Peninsula to help a South Korean child who injured his hand. The child was later sent to Nanshan People’s Hospital for X-rays. Since the outbreak of the epidemic in January, the Shekou and Zhaoshang subdistricts of Nanshan have distributed bilingual brochures about fever clinics and hospitals in the city that can treat expat residents. They have also issued letters to expat residents about the epidemic situation that address their greatest concerns. The center keeps expats updated on the latest official COVID-19-related information and policies through WeChat groups, totaling a reach of about 4,000 people, to prevent panic and clarify rumors. “Expats have limited information sources. Our center and volunteers’ timely answers to their questions remove their doubts. In our two WeChat accounts that have 1,000 expats, we have updated 200 pieces of information since Jan. 22,” she said. Meanwhile, in an inspection of Zhaoshan Subdistrict’s capabilities in preventing and controlling imported cases Tuesday, Shenzhen Mayor Chen Rugui required grass-roots government offices to work actively and lawfully to ensure good service and guidance to expats. The city has tracked down all the 93 people who had close contact with the first imported case reported Sunday. The patient surnamed Sun flew from the United Kingdom to Hong Kong before taking a ferry to Shenzhen on Feb. 28. He was confirmed having COVID-19 on Sunday. Among the 93 people, 69 are in Shenzhen, including the patient’s family members, a cab driver, and ferry crew members and passengers. They were put under medical observation and have tested negative for the virus. The other 24 have left Shenzhen and will be contacted by the authorities at their destinations, the Guangdong government said at a press conference Tuesday. Local Daily Report on COVID-19 Infections New: 0 Total: 418 Recovered: 344 Death toll: 3 | 