By Xinhua writer Zhang Yongxing

SUVA, March 10 (Xinhua) -- "China is a great country that has done a lot to prevent COVID-19 from getting into other countries like Fiji, and we really appreciate China's efforts to share its experience in fighting against the virus," a Fijian doctor told Xinhua on Tuesday.

James Fong, a mid-aged doctor from the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in the Fijian capital Suva, was excited to attend the video conference on COVID-19 in the Chinese Embassy here which was jointly organized by China's Foreign Ministry and China National Health Commission. He applauded China for sharing its experience and keeping away the virus from countries like Fiji.

"I think the fact is that China is so successful in keeping the disease from getting out of China. This has given us, the small island countries like Fiji and the rest of the world a lot more time to prepare for combating the virus. And this is something we really appreciate in terms of China's efforts. We really appreciate the fact that China has not only given us more time to prepare for dealing with the virus, but they also shared their fighting with us, so now we have more time and more knowledge to prepare for it, " he said.

Fong called on countries across the world to learn from China on how to effectively tackle the virus.

"I think the best way for us to fight the virus is we just use the lessons China is teaching us. China has told us a lot about how to contain the virus and China has also reinstated our faith that public health measures work. Many of us started to feel our public health measures not really very useful, but China has just made it more obvious that public health measures do work," he said.

He urged the international community to work together with China in fighting against the virus, saying "I definitely think that to fight the virus is not only for China, but also for the whole world. The most important thing now is to join hands to combat the virus. China has prevented it and delayed it from transmitting to us and shared a lot of its lessons with us. And to me this is very important."

As for how China and Fiji can cooperate to curb the virus, Fong said that "I think so far China is already helping us to fight the virus because by working with WHO and anything about the COVID-19 China study, that has given us plenty of information and already we are studying to use some of this fighting to help our containment strategies. We believe that as the disease resistance goes higher, and once we study the cases, we may have to rely on China to give us more guidance on the specific nature of the isolation precesses and how we can implement it."

Fong voiced his satisfaction with the conference and the way the Chinese experts answered his two questions that related to pregnancy risk and the usefulness of face mask.

The video conference is timely, necessary and very useful, as a supplement to what "we read with regard to the WHO China study on COVID-19," he said.

The Fijian doctor praised the Chinese people especially for the discipline they have kept in terms of the public health measures. As a fellow health worker, he also saluted the Chinese medical personnel for what they have done to look after the confirmed and suspected cases of COVID-19.

It is the first time for China to hold such a conference with the South Pacific island nations such as Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu, Tonga and Kiribati to share its experience in combating the deadly virus.

For his part, Chinese Ambassador to Fiji Qian Bo said that since the outbreak of COVID-19 early this year, the Chinese government has mobilized resources throughout the country, united all the Chinese people as one, and taken the most comprehensive, rigorous and thorough measures to prevent and control the spread of the virus.

As the situation of the epidemic prevention and control in the country is moving in a positive direction, China is willing to share its experience and cooperate with the South Pacific island countries like Fiji to cope with the virus, he added.

"China and Fiji are comprehensive strategic partners who always support and stand with each other in times of difficulty. We will stay in close communication with Fiji and provide updates on latest developments, provide assistance to the best of its capabilities to meet the needs of Fiji, including increasing professional discussions and sharing epidemic containment experience and technologies, thereby safeguarding the health and safety of the people in both countries," the ambassador said.

Source: Xinhua