Volunteers on the front lines against the epidemic in Nghe An

STUDENT VOLUNTEERS STATION

The odd checkpoint of Bo bridge, the last section of Duc Thinh hamlet, Hung Loc commune (Vinh city), connecting to Nghi Thai commune (Nghi Loc district), on a windless afternoon. The sweltering heat seemed to rub into the air and then blow into our faces, burning us. Four people, a police officer, a militiaman and two young volunteers, sat pensively at the checkpoint strung with red and white ribbons. Every now and then, they stood up to check papers and complete procedures when people passed by.

Nguyen Thi Huong Tra - 4th year student of Vinh University is on duty checking people's body temperature at the checkpoint. Photo: Tien Dong

At this checkpoint, we paid more attention to the two girls who were in charge of measuring body temperature, guiding people through the medical declaration process, and also providing logistics and cleaning up water. The green volunteer shirts seemed a bit too big for their small stature. Although the masks were tight, they could not hide the young faces, but the eyes were full of confidence of the two young girls. When asked, we learned that these were two students from Vinh University, also secretaries of the youth union branches in Hung Loc commune. Although they were on summer vacation, they did not think about themselves but volunteered to go to the front line to fight the Covid-19 epidemic.

Instructions for people to declare their health. Photo: Tien Dong

Nguyen Thi Huong Tra, a fourth-year student majoring in Tourism at the Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vinh University, currently residing in Ngu Loc hamlet, shared: When the Covid-19 epidemic broke out and Vinh city had to isolate society, we were surprised and worried, not thinking that one day our city would be locked down. Then through the information channel of the group, we needed to mobilize forces to participate in logistics and support work at the checkpoints, so we registered to volunteer here.

Nguyen Thi Phuong Hoa, a second-year student majoring in Mathematics Education at Vinh University, residing in Hamlet 13, Hung Loc Commune, added that although we may not be able to be on duty 24/7 like the police and militia, we hope to contribute our small efforts to help push back the epidemic soon.

Whenever there are no passersby, these two girls arrange the declarations and put them in a separate bag to hand over to the local authorities after their shift ends. Photo: Tien Dong

Although it was the first time Huong Tra and Phuong Hoa had to work in a pandemic-hit city, they coordinated well with each other. One guided citizens to fill out health declaration forms, the other measured their temperature, and then compiled a list of people passing by to hand over to local authorities at the end of their shift.

"When you volunteered to come here, your families must have been very worried," I asked. Hiding smiles behind their eyes, both Huong Tra and Phuong Hoa said that at first, their parents were worried, always reminding them to be careful. Even on the days at the checkpoint, when they finished their shift and returned home, they almost had to isolate themselves from everyone in their family to be safe.

Perhaps that is the common concern that every parent thinks about when their children are on a mission to fight against an "enemy" that no one can see or imagine what it looks like.

COMMUNITY BLOCK

Leaving Hung Loc, we followed the dirt road between the border area of ​​Vinh City and Nghi Loc District. Interspersed between the checkpoints on the main roads established by the city are small checkpoints arranged by the communes. In Kim Binh Hamlet (Nghi An Commune), we came across two young men on duty in front of... a field. Nguyen Van Phong, Secretary of the Youth Union, and Nguyen Anh Duc, a member of the Youth Union, both from Kim Nghia Hamlet, are two of many Youth Union members of Nghi An Commune who have volunteered to participate in the control of branch roads, inter-commune roads, and even dirt roads connecting Nghi An with neighboring communes of Nghi Loc District.

Nguyen Anh Duc showed me the dirt road connecting Nghi An with Nghi Phong commune (Nghi Loc). After the checkpoints were blocked, many people with poor awareness still tried to cross the fields to enter and exit the city. Photo: Tien Dong

Nghi An area is quite large, almost an arc surrounding the Northeast of the city, bordering Nghi Phong, Nghi Truong, Nghi Trung communes, Nghi Loc district. This is probably the place with the most checkpoints with 7 points established by the commune, not to mention 2 points arranged by the City People's Committee on Highway 46B and Duc - Thiet road. The whole commune has 7 regular police officers, of which 1 female is on maternity leave, the remaining 6 people are regularly active at the 7 checkpoints. That is why a lot of volunteers are needed.

Nguyen Anh Duc shared: after hearing the announcement from the neighborhood about the need for volunteers to join the guard posts, realizing that this was a practical task, in the context of everyone being stressed out fighting the epidemic, so as a local, I immediately registered.

Because the area is large, both Phong and Duc have to spread out to control, because if they are negligent, people will find every way to get past the checkpoint into the city. Photo: Tien Dong

Not far from where Duc was standing, the Youth Union Secretary Nguyen Van Phong was also sitting at the checkpoint. Phong said: although the commune had used many measures to block the checkpoint, people still tried to wade through the fields to enter the city. There were sections where excavators had dug up the road, but they still tried to carry their vehicles through.

Phong Bao Nghi An and Nghi Phong are adjacent to each other, and we know many people there. Normally, they often go to the city to work as construction workers. When they were locked down, they found a way to get in through the dirt road. When they saw us and didn't let them through, they cursed and threatened us. Sometimes we knew it was displeasing, but because of our duty to ensure safety and prevent the spread of the disease, we had to firmly force them to return.

VOLUNTEER APPLICATIONS

On the morning of June 14, when Vinh City recorded the first case of Covid-19 infection in the community in Ha Huy Tap Ward, all worries focused on this place. The worry was even greater when the entire ward had 5 medical staff at the Health Station who had become F1 and were forced to be quarantined. The worry of having no medical staff in the midst of a dire situation was more present than ever. Faced with that situation, Dr. Tran Dinh Can - former Head of the Health Station of Ha Huy Tap Ward, now retired, wrote a volunteer application to join the epidemic prevention force.

Doctor Tran Dinh Can mixes medicine to prepare to spray disinfectant at checkpoints and locations that officers and steering committees frequently come into contact with.

Although at that time, Dr. Can's house was also in the blockade area in block 8, due to its distance from the F0's residential area, he requested the ward to gather with the on-site forces day and night without returning home. After joining the ward's epidemic prevention force, Dr. Can advised the local government to buy a disinfectant sprayer to proactively disinfect all checkpoints and locations that cadres and steering committees often come into contact with. Especially at that time, there were many relief teams coming to Ha Huy Tap ward, so spraying disinfectants was very necessary to prevent the epidemic.

Having worked at the Ward Health Station for a long time, Dr. Can himself has a good understanding of the area and which people with underlying diseases need to be careful when preventing the epidemic. Everyone in the ward knows him, so whenever there are questions about health declaration, he always gives specific instructions.

Doctor Can and Mr. Chung's volunteer application to join the fight against the epidemic sent to the Ha Huy Tap ward authorities. Photo: Tien Dong

The 8 days of packing up and staying at the ward to fight the epidemic while his family was in the blockade area was a very stressful time for Dr. Can. But because of his duty to fight the epidemic, he had to put aside his family affairs to advise the local government on directing quarantine groups and staying in the area to be able to respond quickly to emergency situations. It was not until 3 days ago, when the blockade of Block 8 where his family lived was lifted, that he returned home, but he still went to work every day with the local officials.

Mr. Chung sprays disinfectant at the Ward Health Station area. Photo: Tien Dong

In addition to Dr. Can, Mr. Nguyen Tat Chung, who sells clothes on Ly Tu Trong Street, has also volunteered to join the Ha Huy Tap Ward's epidemic prevention force. Every day, Mr. Chung arrives early at the ward People's Committee, and together with the forces in the epidemic prevention steering committee, he organizes the arrangement of necessities to promptly rescue the locked-down areas.

I met Mr. Chung when he was carrying a disinfectant sprayer, wearing a full protective suit, the sprayer filled with water weighed more than 30kg but he carried it quickly. He said that when the epidemic became complicated, as a child of the ward, he could not just stand by and watch everyone struggling to rush into the hot spots. Therefore, he volunteered to join the epidemic prevention force with the thought that, even though he had no expertise, he could help with many necessary tasks, whenever the steering committee needed it. The image of Mr. Chung sometimes rolling up his sleeves to unload supplies sent by localities to the ward, sometimes running like a shuttle to deliver food to officers and soldiers at the checkpoint, sometimes carefully carrying the sprayer to spray disinfectant in every corner has become a familiar image during the days when Ha Huy Tap ward was struggling to fight the epidemic.

Ms. Dang Thi Hoa - Chairman of the People's Committee of Ha Huy Tap Ward shared, with Dr. Can, Mr. Chung and many others joining hands, we feel like we have been given more strength. Only at these times can we fully see the solidarity of our fellow countrymen, and believe that in the near future, we will be able to stamp out the Covid-19 epidemic.