Editor's note: In the battle with the COVID-19 epidemic, more and more fighters are coming to its front lines, including students and former students of the Open University of China (OUC). Like other fighters, no matter how ordinary, they are contributing what they can. Let's take a close look at some of their stories.

On New Year's Eve, a time for family reunions, residents of Cangxi in Sichuan Province were alerted to the outbreak of the covid-19 epidemic. Zhou Xiaorong, director of the Infection Management Department of Cangxi People's Hospital, and an undergraduate Nursing major at the Cangxi campus of Sichuan Guangyuan RTVU (class of autumn 2017), undertook the responsibility for reaching the goal of two zeros (zero medical staff and zero hospital patients infected).

She returned to Cangxi at once and worked all night

On New Year's Eve, Zhou Xiaorong, with family in her rural hometown, received a call. "Director Zhou, the Wuhan epidemic has spread. Please come to an emergency meeting at the hospital at 8:30 tomorrow morning!"

She knew that, to manage infectious diseases, both patients and medical staff need to be kept in mind. After receiving the call, she hurriedly bid farewell to her family and drove back to Cangxi with her husband that night on a steep mountain road.

She also knew that measures to control the infection had to be taken at once, and be based on the actual situation of the hospital. Once home, she immediately turned on her computer to learn about the epidemic and the means of controlling it. The whole hospital was on alert, and she knew that her professional guidance was required.

With the meeting coming up, she spent the whole night researching, taking notes, and sometimes calling colleagues for advice. Within a few hours she had worked out a plan based on national guidelines and her years of work experience, and after a hurried breakfast rushed to the meeting.

Training is her main responsibility

Zhou Xiaorong has offered comprehensive and detailed training first to emergency responders, then key departments, and finally the entire hospital staff, covering methods of disinfection and isolation, use of protective equipment, preparation of the disinfectant solutions, and collection and disposal of medical waste.

To ensure the training has been effective, she monitors the wards to see to it that its measures are being implemented. She gives guidance patiently when there are problems, regardless of how tired she is.

With national prevention-and-control standards being continuously updated, she makes time even after an exhausting day to study the changes, modify courseware, keep accurate and complete records, and plan for the next day. Sometimes, when she receives an emergency document late at night, she will study it immediately, and communicate it to the hospital to ensure that medical staff are aware of it.

Zhou Xiaorong communicates not only with medical staff, but also the general public. In taxis, for example, she teaches drivers how to wear their masks properly, and she also shares her knowledge on TV. She demonstrates to leaders how to protect themselves, and has made a short video on infection prevention and control for school teachers and students.

Her busy figure can be seen wherever the epidemic is being fought

At the hospital designated for covid-19 treatment, the risk of infection is ubiquitous, and in order to make its layout and processes more effective she has collaborated with colleagues in her department and the nursing department to clear spaces, transport garbage, rebuild the lounges as well as the bathing and dining rooms, and optimise buffer zones and the medical-waste-treatment room.

The growing severity of the epidemic in other provinces, especially for medical staff, has made the atmosphere tense, with lack of adequate protective equipment contributing to the anxiety. As the person in charge of infection control at the hospital, a heavy burden of helplessness and anxiety has fallen on her.

"Medical staff are fighters, and they must not lack protection!" On the one hand she has asked hospital management to take urgent steps to ensure this, while on the other hand she has personally communicated with the head nurses of each department, and collected all the hospital’s protective equipment for emergency distribution. She has also called on staff to leave their N95 masks in the wards and strictly control the use of protective equipment. She enters the isolation ward every day to supervise implementations and track down protective equipment.

Zhou Xiaorong urges her colleagues to see their protective equipment as their lifeline, and personally ensures that they are wearing it properly.

Zhou Xiaorong takes seriously her responsibilities at the forefront of this battle.

By OUC News Network