Heroes at Home Man Yuk-ling

Hong Kong resident Man Yuk-ling took only 15 days to form a 110-member volunteer team that distributes necessities to households of confirmed COVID-19 patients.

The team, whose members range from university students to retirees, delivers supplies to households in all 18 districts of Hong Kong, seven days a week. The team members usually put the supplies on the doorstep, knock on the door, retreat to a safe distance, and wait for the door to open.

Hong Kong is experiencing its worst-ever wave of COVID-19 infections, with over 600,000 between Dec 30 to March 11. The city is in acute need of isolation units, as many public hospitals are fully occupied. Thousands of COVID-positive patients stay at home for quarantine.

Resident Man Yuk-ling said that at the beginning, she and some volunteers bought the supplies themselves. When her team gained more and more public attention thanks to social media, supplies started to flood in not only from HK people, but also from mainland compatriots and some associations

"Stay away, keep safe!" That's the sentence Man and her teammates repeatedly hear after they knock on a door. Sometimes, a thank-you note with a smiley face drawn on it is hung on the door.

"That's very heartwarming to me and my team members," said Man in her office in Tuen Mun. Most of the office is taken up by supplies: masks, rapid antigen test kits, sanitizer, and Lianhua Qingwen, a traditional Chinese medicine that has been found to be effective against COVID-19 in a test by a team led by leading Chinese respiratory specialist Zhong Nanshan.

Man said that at the beginning, she and some volunteers bought the supplies themselves. When her team gained more and more public attention thanks to social media, supplies started to flood in not only from Hong Kong people, but also from mainland compatriots and some associations.

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"We got their donations almost on the second day we began to serve," she said.

On the day China Daily followed Man during a day of work in Kwai Chung, a local resident came to her and donated 10 boxes of Lianhua Qingwen.

Man Yuk-ling (first from right), leader of a volunteer group that helps COVID-positive patients in home isolation, poses for a photo with three team members, who are in their protection suits, ready to respond to calls for help. (LIU XIAOHAN / CHINA DAILY)

I believe that through this outbreak, Hong Kong people will be more united. Our team is bringing in more and more help, be it joining the volunteer work or donating supplies. I believe that Hong Kong people will be able to get through this difficult time.

Man Yuk-ling, volunteer

The donations also included protective gear. According to Man, in the team's early days, there was no professional protective gear. She dared not ask other volunteers to go with her.

But it was not always smooth in operation. Man said that when they first went out to distribute materials, they had little experience. They randomly assigned cars to a neighborhood nearby, and at the end of the day, they found out some supplies could not be delivered in a timely manner to those who needed it.

Another difficulty is the protection gear. Man and her team try to wear protection gear as long as possible, usually for the whole day of work, since the protection gear is a bit hard to get, and there is a high risk of being infected when one takes it on and off.

Stephen Ng, one of the volunteers, said that he once couldn't have lunch until 6 pm. He did not go to the bathroom from 10 am to 6 pm that day. "All the volunteers, everyone has had more or less the same experience," he said.

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Man said, "I believe that through this outbreak, Hong Kong people will be more united. Our team is bringing in more and more help, be it joining the volunteer work or donating supplies. I believe that Hong Kong people will be able to get through this difficult time."

Currently, Man has opened three hotlines for the needy to call in for help. She said one volunteer could receive hundreds of calls a day.

Li Xiang contributed to the story.

Contact the writers at willa@chinadailyhk.com