Shandong offers help with pandemic control in Burkina Faso

During the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, enterprises based in Shandong province have offered help in the fight against the virus in Africa.

Qingdao Haide Engineering Group has renovated an isolation hospital in Burkina Faso, one of the countries most affected by the pandemic in West Africa.

It is the first construction project in the country to be carried out by China aimed at fighting the pandemic, and is expected to be finished within a month.

The Shandong-based company is one of the first enterprises to do business in Burkina Faso. It has constructed 100 primary schools, the Sino-Burkinabe Fitness Park, and many other buildings in the country.

When the pandemic was at its height in China, Burkina Faso sent messages of encouragement and goodwill. Now that the situation has improved in China, Burkina Faso's Chinese sister cities are delivering protective supplies to the country.

Secretary-general of the Ministry of Health of Burkina Faso expressed gratitude to China's support and help amid the pandemic and showed confidence in defeating the virus.

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Protective supplies are delivered to Burkina Faso from China to help curb the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A remote medical platform was set up at a designated hospital for COVID-19 patients in Burkina Faso on March 28, with the help of the Shandong provincial government, Shandong Provincial Hospital, a local Chinese medical team, and Huawei. The first video conference through the platform was held that same day.

The online platform is expected to promote medical exchange between the two sides, and Chinese experience and treatment protocols on pandemic control will be shared.

A medical team from Shandong province was dispatched to Burkina Faso on Jan 3 to provide medical services in the country for a total of 385 days. Amid the virus outbreak, the medical team has taken quick action and helped with pandemic control.

The medical team has cooperated with local hospitals, the Chinese embassy in Burkina Faso and the local Chinese chamber of commerce in a joint effort to isolate, diagnose and treat suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.

In addition, the medical team is also keeping in close contact with the local branch of WHO and other local disease control institutions, sharing information on the pandemic as well as effective treatment methods.