After the outbreak of COVID-19, the 26th batch of Chinese medical team members were sent to Mali, but they are still concerned about their motherland.

In his diary, Pu Li wrote: "Since April, there has been the so-called “mango rain” in Mali, which helps Mali's mangoes to grow and ripen, and nourishes millions of people in Africa. The Chinese medical team is making its due contribution to the fight against the epidemic in Africa. In the future, nobody in this team will be remembered and nothing we have done will be remembered. But I have made my contribution and I will always remember. That’s enough!"

A note of anti-epidemic experience in Africa 

On March 25, 2020, the Government of Mali declared the first confirmed case of COVID-19.

We had hope that COVID-19 would be over as it got warmer just like SARS thirteen years ago. However, COVID-19 is far more severe than we thought. As many developed countries suffer the epidemic one by one, people have set their eyes on the hot and arid land of Africa, hoping that the dryness and heat of Africa can stop the virus' spread and that Africa will become a continent free from COVID-19 virus.

However, on February 14, Egypt had its first confirmed case of COVID-19, which shattered people’s good wishes. From then on, the Chinese medical team began to act. Led by Jiang Yihua, head of the team, the COVID-19 prevention and treatment team was set up, which formulated a series of emergency plans, systematically studied the relevant knowledge, carried out practice on wearing protective clothing and masks and made the most reasonable deployment of the insufficient protection resources. 

The Chinese Embassy in Mali and the Chinese-funded institutions in Mali also provided us with spiritual and material care. For example, despite the problem of suspended flights, the Embassy sent us valuable protective supplies.

Although we have been fully prepared psychologically, I was still shocked when I saw the multitude of patients waiting in the registration hall of the Malian Hospital. Only a few locals wore masks, and the patients waiting to be treated still chatted almost face to face for a long time. In addition, the doctors in the isolation wards packed with confirmed patients didn’t wear protective clothing when they entered and exited the wards! I was extremely shocked and worried! All I could do was be more careful.

Although the epidemic in Mali started late, it grows quite fast. Mali’s nucleic acid testing capacity is limited. As of April 7, there have been 56 confirmed cases and six deaths. At present, the Government of Mali has just imposed a curfew. More measures need to be adopted to prevent the spread of the epidemic. Perhaps a big war is waiting for us.

疫情爆发以来，第26批中国援马里医疗队队员浦立身在西非马里，心系祖国。

浦立在日记中写道：“4月，马里的芒果雨开始羞嗒嗒地下了。马里盛产的芒果就是吸允着这点点滴滴的雨露成长、成熟，滋养着千千万万的非洲大众。中国医疗队员正如这芒果雨，润物细无声地在非洲为抗击疫情做着微不足道的一点贡献。未来，在援非抗疫的历史中，没有人会知道我是谁、我干了啥，但是我知道——我来过，我为之奋斗过！这，就足够了！”

援非抗“疫”小记

2020年3月25日，马里政府官宣确诊首例新冠病毒肺炎患者。

曾希望新冠疫情会像十三年前的SARS那样，随着天气的转暖而戛然而止。然而这一次，疫情远比我们想像的要严峻。随着一个个发达国家的“沦陷”，人们把目光落在了非洲这片高温干旱的土地上，希望非洲的干和热能阻止病毒的脚步，给地球留一片远离新冠病毒的“净土”。

然而，2月14日，埃及确诊了非洲第一例新冠病毒肺炎患者，打破了人们最后的幻想。从那时起，中国医疗队行动起来了。在队长蒋益华的带领下，全体队员未雨绸缪，组成了新冠肺炎防治小组，制订了一系列的应急预案，系统地学习了相关知识，进行了防护穿戴的实战演练，把并不富裕的防护资源作了最合理的调配，中国驻马里大使馆及马里的中资机构也给我们送来了精神和物资上的关怀，大使馆克服航班停飞的困难，几经辗转送来了宝贵的第一批防护用品。

虽然做了一定的心理准备，但当我看到疫情出现之后马里医院的挂号大厅依然挤满了人，戴口罩的当地人寥寥无几，候诊患者长时间近距离交谈，住着确诊病人的隔离病房的医生不穿防护服自由进出时，我真的非常震惊、非常担心！我能做的只是小心再小心、仔细再仔细。

马里的疫情开始得较晚，但增速并不慢，虽然核酸检测能力有限，截至4月7日已确诊56例，死亡6例。目前马里政府除了实行宵禁，尚未采取更多措施预防疫情的扩散，不知是否还有硬仗等着我们？

(Executive Editor: Ye Ke)