Iranian businessman joins control efforts

Iranian businessman Hamid Dehghani takes his breakfast on the go as he works as a volunteer at thnter oe service cef the Jimingshan community in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, on March 6. ZHENG MENGYU/XINHUA

HANGZHOU－Hamid Dehghani, an Iranian businessman, has lived in the city of Yiwu, a major commodity hub in East China's Zhejiang province, for around 17 years. Now he is fighting against the novel coronavirus in a local community.

After the outbreak started, the 55-year-old Iranian volunteered to join in the epidemic prevention and control team of the Jimingshan community in Yiwu.

"The community is one with the most foreign residents in Yiwu. Known as an 'international residential community', there are over 25,000 in the migrant population, among them, more than 1,400 traders from more than 70 countries," says He Wenjun, an official of the Jimingshan community.

Therefore, Hamid, who can speak six languages, has been playing an important role in the fight against the deadly virus. Since the epidemic spread across the world and more foreigners came back to Yiwu as the international trade market reopened in mid-February, Hamid is getting busier.

Learning that one couple had recently returned to the community from abroad, Hamid visited them, alongside community officials and medical workers.

"Hello, I'm a community volunteer. These are masks and disinfectant," Hamid said to the Israeli man and gave him a bag of epidemic prevention materials provided by the community.

They checked his identity information and handed over two thermometers, asking him and his wife to report their body temperatures twice a day.