PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE

Pakistani student shares China's anti-virus experience via live streaming

Qadir owes his rich knowledge about epidemic prevention and control to his voluntary services


Xinhua April 04, 2020
NANJING: Pakistani student Ali Qadir in east China's Jiangsu Province has become an Internet celebrity recently via live streaming and sharing China's experience in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic on social media.

Qadir, 27, comes from Quetta, capital of the southwest Baluchistan Province in Pakistan. Capable of speaking Hazaragi, Urdu, Chinese and English, he is now studying for a master's degree in Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in Jiangsu.

Since the epidemic outbreak, Qadir has been sharing China's anti-virus experience in four languages via filming vlogs and live streaming on social media, trying to record the country's efforts and sacrifices made during the epidemic.

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"I saw several rumours and fake news about the epidemic in China on foreign social media, including a story that foreign students in China are suffering from a shortage of food after the lockdown of several cities," said Qadir.

Qadir posted the videos he filmed in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu, on his Facebook account, recording the real situation in food markets, subway stations and high-speed railway stations.

Qadir has also been following the status quo of the epidemic in his motherland.

"My families told me China had sent medical teams to Pakistan, which helps raise the morale of people there to win the battle against the pandemic," he said.

Among the latest efforts of China to help control the spread of the epidemic in Pakistan, a charter plane carrying an eight-member medical team and 10 tonnes of medical supplies arrived at Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, on March 28.

Qadir is concerned about the epidemic situation in his hometown Quetta, which faces great pressure as it is close to Iran, which has reported over 50,400 confirmed cases as of Thursday.

"Nearly 1,000 people in Quetta are under quarantine after returning home from Iran," said Qadir.

During the live-streaming on March 18, he told his compatriots how to prevent themselves from being infected during the quarantine, attracting nearly 50,000 viewers.

Qadir owes his rich knowledge about epidemic prevention and control to his voluntary services.

Qadir led the members of the Nanjing-based voluntary organization "From Compassion to Action" to participate in volunteer services in residential communities during the epidemic.

They even opened free online English classes for children whose parents are medical workers and had been dispatched to Hubei Province to help treat patients there.

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Currently, Qadir is busy with raising medical supplies for his hometown due to the rising confirmed cases and shortage of masks and protective suits there.

With the help of his Chinese friends, Qadir has collected a total of nearly 16,000 masks and other medical supplies.

"They have been sent to the Embassy of Pakistan in Beijing, from where they will be soon delivered to my hometown by a chartered plane," said Qadir. "I hope the batch of materials will bring some relief."

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