Tzu Chi’s Response to the Coronavirus Epidemic

Medical personnel at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital pray for the epidemic to end. FAN YU-HONG

A volunteer sanitizes the Tzu Chi Bade Recycling Station to make it a safer place in which to work. LIAO MU-NAN

Tzu Chi volunteers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, pack donated medical supplies for delivery to areas impacted by the coronavirus. COURTESY OF TZU CHI KUALA LUMPUR AND SELANGOR

Volunteers in the city of Quanzhou, Xiamen Province, China, donated nutritious foodstuff to medical workers at Quanzhou First Hospital and Jinjiang Municipal Hospital. HUANG GUO-MING

About COVID-19

In December 2019, several cases of pneumonia of unknown cause were detected in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The disease was determined in early January 2020 to be caused by a new strain of coronavirus, temporarily dubbed “2019-nCoV.” On February 11, 2020, the World Health Organization officially named the illness caused by the virus “COVID-19.” The “CO” stands for “corona,” “VI” for “virus,” and “D” for “disease.” The novel coronavirus itself was officially named “SARS-CoV-2.”

As of March 9, there had been 111,650 confirmed cases and 3,887 fatalities in over 100 countries and territories. Chinese authorities had reported 80,735 confirmed cases and 3,120 deaths in mainland China. Most of the cases in China had been concentrated in Hubei, Guangdong, Henan, and Zhejiang provinces.

Help to Those Quarantined

In accordance with coronavirus quarantine regulations from Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control, Tzu Chi University in Hualien, Taiwan, provided care for its students from Hong Kong and Macau who had returned to Taiwan for a new semester after winter break. Quarantine quarters were set up for the students on February 7, and three meals a day were prepared and delivered by school personnel. Nurses called the students every day to check on the status of their health. Tzu Chi moms and dads [volunteers who provide care and support for students at Tzu Chi schools] helped care for the students’ emotional needs by phone.

The Malaysian government flew over a hundred individuals home from Wuhan in early February. Tzu Chi volunteers in Malaysia, at the invitation of the National Disaster Management Agency, provided daily necessities, dry food, and emotional support for those in quarantine at a surveillance center. They were required to spend a period of 14 days in quarantine to ensure they were virus-free.

Tzu Chi USA was invited by the U.S. government’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention to help address the needs of American citizens being placed under quarantine in military facilities upon their evacuation from Wuhan. Tzu Chi provided blankets, scarves, and dental floss to those in quarantine. Tzu Chi volunteers also helped translate for those in quarantine who couldn’t speak English. Starting on February 16, volunteers participated in a counseling project to help reduce the fear and frustration of quarantined evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Responsive Measures in Taiwan

The seven Tzu Chi hospitals in Taiwan have taken preventative measures against the coronavirus epidemic. Tzu Chi facilities around the world have activated precautionary measures too, including hand sanitizers and temperature checks at their entrances. Recycling stations have also been sterilized.

As per the Taiwanese government’s request, surgical mask manufacturers on the island sped up their production to relieve a shortage of masks. Taiwan’s armed forces were mobilized to help at factory production lines to increase the supply. At the invitation of the Tainan city government, Tzu Chi volunteers pitched in to help as well. They joined the production lines at a mask factory in Tainan on February 10, working a daily shift from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon.

The official website of the Tzu Chi Foundation started publishing a daily reminder from Dharma Master Cheng Yen on February 1 to help reduce anxiety and fear that has accompanied the spread of the coronavirus. A daily prayer event was launched on February 3 at Tzu Chi facilities around the world, with volunteers and employees praying at the same time every day for blessings for the world. Tzu Chi also called upon people to adopt a vegetarian diet as a way to nurture compassion and help dispel disasters and epidemics.

A daily chanting of the “Universal Gate” chapter from the Lotus Sutra was initiated at the Tzu Chi headquarters in eastern Taiwan on February 7 to pray for peace in people’s minds and a world without disasters and epidemics.

Aid to Medical Workers

Tzu Chi volunteers in countries including Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, the USA, China, and Russia prepared hospital supplies and had them delivered to hospitals in areas hit hard by the epidemic. The supplies included isolation gowns, safety goggles, surgical caps, medical gloves, and bed sheets for hospital beds.