Qi Lei, a doctor at the emergency department of the Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University [Photo/ntjoy.com]

Luigi De Mossi, mayor of Siena, Italy, met with Qi Lei, a doctor from Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province, on April 7 and thanked him for his contributions to the city's fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak on his Facebook account.

As the epidemic continues to spread globally, Italy has been one of the most severely hit countries. During this critical period, Qi, who has been studying at the Siena University Hospital, decided to stay there and do his best to help the locals.

The 41-year-old is a deputy chief doctor at the emergency department of the Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University. He received government funds to study extracorporeal life support technology at the Siena hospital in Dec 2019. 

During the outbreak, Qi has updated local doctors with China’s latest guidelines on epidemic prevention and control and advocated protective measures such as home quarantine, hand sanitization, mask-wearing, and maintaining a distance from others. 

He also donated his own protective items to locals and friends in Rome. "I had two masks left for myself, and I was washing and disinfecting them under the blazing sun after every time I used them," Qi explained.

"I wish I could directly treat COVID-19 patients, but I can't due to the different medical systems in China and Italy. Even so, I'll try my best to help the city fight the virus," said Qi.