Chinese Americans in several states are pulling their resources together to help embattled health care workers treating coronavirus patients.
Danbury Hospital in Connecticut is receiving more than 6,000 surgical masks thanks to $20,000 in donations from the Chinese community, reports News 12.
The hospital has already received 5,000 masks and another 1,500 are scheduled to arrive today.
“We said when it was happening in China, Chinese Americans were involved in the battle because we feel we are Chinese…we were born in China…and now it is spreading to the rest of the world. We feel we are involved because we feel we are Americans now,” says organizer Ling Wu to News 12.
Elsewhere, 115 restaurant owners from the Chinese American community nationwide have raised $72,000-enough to purchase 20,000 surgical masks, according to Xinhuanet. The money is also being used to donate 300 N95 masks, 3,550 protective coveralls and 500 pairs of gloves to multiple hospitals in New York, the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, and another hospital in New Jersey.
In Wisconsin, a ginseng grower has received 1,000 surgical masks and 400 N95 masks from China and has donated them to local hospitals and police departments.
In addition, Xinhuanet reports the Long Island Chinese American Association has donated 37,000 surgical masks and nearly 3,500 personal protective masks to ten hospitals.
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