Medical supplies for Wuhan

There is currently a serious outbreak of a novel coronavirus causing pneumonia leading to death in Wuhan. Healthcare workers are desperately running out of supplies needed to contain the outbreak, treat patients, and protect frontline workers.

This Go Fund Me page has been set up to raise money for healthcare workers, medical microbiologists, and virologists in China. The healthcare workers are currently using personal protective equipment at an alarming rate as they are caring for patients and investigating this virus. This has led to significant shortages of protection equipment and supplies. We will be sending coveralls (Tyvek suits), respirator masks, goggles, face shields, and virus neutralization solution to hospitals in need in China or other areas affected by this outbreak. This project is an initiative of the Canadian Society for Virology, Dalhousie University, and members of the Canadian medical community to support our colleagues in China. 

Please read the article with a personal account describing the need for medical supplies. https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/local/halifax-researchers-launch-equipment-drive-for-chinese-colleagues-treating-coronavirus-402825/ 


The CNN link below outlines the current situation of emergency. 
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/25/china/wuhan-coronavirus-update-intl-hnk/index.html


More about us.
1.     Who you are and where you’re from:

The Medical Supplies for Wuhan GoFundMe program was initiated and is run by a TEAM composed of The Canadian Society for Virology executive members, scientists at Dalhousie University, and volunteers. Specifically, our team members are described below:

Alyson Kelvin, PhD: Director for the Canadian Society for Virology, Assistant Professor at Dalhousie University (Halifax, Nova Scotia), and Scientist at IWK Health Centre (Halifax, Nova Scotia).

https://www.akelvinlab.com/

Canadian Society for Virology - https://www.csv-scv.ca/fr/infolettre/we-are-the-canadian-society-for-virology-and-we-are-pleased-to-meet-you!


Jeff Coombs: Finance manager for the campaign. Jeff is part of the Journal of Infection in Developing Countries and is a User Experience Designer at Famous Folks

https://www.jeffccoombs.com/


 
Zhenyu Cheng, PhD: Assistant Professor at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Dr. Cheng’s hometown is Wuhan, China.

 https://dal-chenglab.com/people



David Kelvin, PhD: Professor at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Scientist at the International Institute for Infection and Immunity in Shantou, China.

https://medicine.dal.ca/departments/department-sites/microbiology/people/our-faculty/david-kelvin.html

http://www.internationalinstituteofinfectionandimmunity.com/dkelvin.php


 Craig McCormick, PhD: Professor at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Executive council member for the Canadian Society for Virology.

http://craigmccormicklab.com/team


 Nikki Kelvin, PhD: Editor for the Journal of Infection in Developing Countries, currently in Halifax.   

Patricia Kelvin: Patricia Kelvin is currently located in Los Angeles, California. Patricia is heading communications for this initiative.



2.     Your relationship or contact to the intended recipients of your campaign’s donations

The intended recipients of the campaign’s donations are healthcare workers in Wuhan or other areas of need in China. We have no direct relationship with the recipients. We recognize their need for medical supplies as it has been communicated often in the media. Specifically, we are sending the supplies to the Wuhan Red Cross, Hubei Charity Federation, the Wuhan Central Hospital, or other healthcare centers or medical charities that express need.

 

3.     A clear explanation of how the donations will be spent

All donations will go to the purchasing and shipping of medical equipment to the charities mentioned above. Currently, we have purchased Tyvek suits and sent them to China for the healthcare workers. All purchases have been and will be made by Team members from personal or university research accounts. Invoices for the purchases will be submitted to team member Jeff Coombs who complete the refunds to the full amount. Purchasing tables, invoices, and shipping documents will be made public. The funds will be deposited into Jeff Coomb's account and he will be reimbursing thee research grants or persons who paid using personal credit cards for the supplies. All supplies will be purchased by personal or research grant money first and not directly from Go Fund Me. Go Fund Me, will be used to reimburse those accounts where thee purchases were made.

Only medical supplies will be sent to China. No money will be directly sent to China. Our team members who used personal or grant funds for purchasing the medical supplies will be reimbursed through direct transfer or check from Jeff Coombs to the personal account or to Dalhousie University.


4.     Your plan to get the campaign’s donations to the intended recipient(s)

All supplies will be shipped to Chinese charities through Valueway shipping company. Donation documentation is completed for the shipping to ensure the package gets the recipient charity. These documents will be made public.

5.      How you are related to this cause?

We are related to this cause through the understanding that the Healthcare centres in Wuhan and in China are currently in a state of emergence as well as personal connections.  Zhenyu Cheng, a team member, is a professor at Dalhousie University who is originally from Wuhan. David Kelvin has a research lab in Guangdong province in China. Both David and Zhenyu have friends, colleagues, and family in China who are affected by the outbreak of 2019-nCov and quarantine efforts. Together our team of virologists, infectious disease researchers, and volunteers (Jeff Coombs, Alyson Kelvin, David Kelvin, Zhenyu Cheng, Craig McCormick, Nikki Kelvin, Joey Kelvin, and Patricia Kelvin) are committed to help the healthcare workers stay safe so that they can take care of those infected with 2019-nCoV.