A volunteer (R) helps the local public health bureau to carry packages containing protective suits in Heinsberg, Germany, on March 6, 2020. A group of overseas Chinese living in Frankfurt, Germany have sent some 900 protective suits, packed in 25 boxes, to Heinsberg, a German region heavily hit by COVID-19. (Photo by Liu Yang/Xinhua)
FRANKFURT, March 7 -- A group of overseas Chinese living in Frankfurt, Germany have sent some 900 protective suits, packed in 25 boxes, to Heinsberg, a German region heavily hit by COVID-19.
The district of Heinsberg, with a population of about 250,000, is located in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). It has become one of Germany's heaviest hit regions by COVID-19, after a couple from the region were diagnosed with the novel coronavirus last week.
According to official data, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in Germany has risen to 795 by Saturday afternoon, nearly half of which were in NRW. In Heinsberg alone, the number was nearly 200.
Friday's donation was made in the name of several Chinese universities' alumni associations in Germany, representing hundreds of Chinese living and working in the country. They previously donated medical supplies from Germany to Wuhan, China's worst affected region.
The fast development of the COVID-19 situation in Germany and reports of medical supply shortage have prompted the donation, the organizers told Xinhua.
At the public health bureau of the district of Heinsberg, Liu Yang, an alumnus from Beijing Foreign Studies University, handed the boxes over to the local authority.
Ralf Ortmanns, a local doctor in charge of infectious disease control and prevention, thanked the Chinese donators. He said that most patients in Heinsberg are in good condition and some residents have already been released from quarantine. "We do need medical supply, so we thank our Chinese friends for the donation," Ortmanns said.
Ortmanns, who had previously worked in China, said he was concerned with the COVID-19 situation there. The COVID-19 outbreak has not yet peaked in Germany and much remains to be done, he said. "Bless us all and let us fight the disease together," Ortmanns said.
