- Health workers around the world are working long hours and some have even lost their lives on the front lines of the battle against the coronavirus;

- Medical staff have made important contributions to curbing the pandemic, and they are "the most beautiful angels" and "messengers of light and hope";

- Guided by the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, China has been more than ready to share its good practices and provide assistance in its capacity to countries hit by the pandemic.

BEIJING, April 26  -- "My babies are too young to read it now. And they'd barely recognize me in my gear. But if they lose me to COVID I want them to know Mommy tried really hard to do her job," Cornelia Griggs, a New York pediatric surgeon, wrote in an emotional post to her toddlers in March.

A mother on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, Griggs is using her sacrifice and courage as a powerful teaching moment for her children. The viral tweet received about 103,000 retweets and 530,000 likes within 24 hours.

According to the latest figure of Johns Hopkins University, coronavirus infections have risen to nearly 2.9 million worldwide along with more than 200,000 deaths.

Griggs, along with thousands of fearless medical workers across the world, has been putting up an arduous and brave fight against COVID-19, trying to turn the tide on the pandemic which knows no borders and recognizes no races.

Many are working long hours, with their own lives upended by the unprecedented health crisis; some have volunteered to help out without any second thoughts; some have even lost their lives on the front lines of the battle against the coronavirus.

A medical staff member takes samples of a child at a COVID-19 testing point in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 15, 2020. (Photo by Chong Voon Chung/Xinhua)

GREAT SACRIFICE

Roberto Stella, a general practitioner aged 67, died on March 11, the first of many doctors to succumb to the coronavirus in Italy.

He lived in Busto Arsizio in Lombardy, an Italian region that has been hit particularly hard by the outbreak, and had planned to step down from his job as a doctor and president of the Order of Physicians in Varese, a city just north of Milan, at the end of this year.

Stella was among the first to urge the government to pay attention to the inadequate personal protective equipment for healthcare staff.

He asked his medical staff to be careful and press on with their work when they had run out of face masks and gloves.

He was a true doctor who worked hard until the end, said Alessandro Colombo, a colleague and friend of Stella.