Five of our students worked on a project named “Love Spread Faster than the Virus” with the NGO Christian Concern for the Homeless Association (CCHA). Sponsored by the Lee Hysan Foundation, the project aimed to provide much-needed masks to the homeless. Due to the dearth of face masks in the local market at the time, the students sourced masks from overseas through their own networks. Anti-epidemic packs each containing 10 masks, a bottle of self-made hand sanitiser and a packet of tissues were prepared. The students also produced two videos to demonstrate how to make DIY hand sanitisers and to provide tips for maintaining hygiene in crowded places, such as shelters for the homeless.

Charity care packages containing masks, hand sanitiser and tissues

A PolyU alumnus headed to Leishenshan Hospital in Wuhan as a volunteer in January 2020. The alumnus not only supported the hospital by designing a negative pressure isolation ward and supplying disinfectant equipment, but also helped establish a medical incineration facility and helped burn infectious waste. Furthermore, our current students and graduates of the Disaster Nursing programme at Sichuan University - The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction joined the frontline during the outbreak of COVID-19. They assisted as frontline medical staff at various hospitals in Wuhan and other cities in Hubei and Sichuan.

Students and graduates joining frontline medical staff

Offering their services to fight the virus, many of our alumni have exerted their technical professionalism and creativity to develop various innovative solutions during the pandemic outbreak. Below are some examples:

• Setting up local mask production lines to provide sufficient medical supplies to the public;
• Establishing a digital intelligent platform to enable liaison between driver and supplier to assist in transporting material supplies;
• Developing portable medical equipment to assist medical staff in making early diagnosis of COVID-19 cases at an early stage; and
• Creating digital platforms which analyse COVID-19 data for monitoring the pandemic situation and enabling companies to resume normal operations with precautions.