After hearing that Hubei province was determined to deploy medical workers to help Shanghai fight the COVID-19 outbreak, I had no hesitation in applying on April 2.

I did so as I clearly remember medical workers, especially those from other areas, helping us when my hometown was hit by the pandemic in early 2020.

With their efforts, we got through a tough time. So, now it's my turn to provide help for Shanghai and devote myself to this work.

At college, I studied medical laboratory technology, and my main job at Shishou People's Hospital, Jingzhou, Hubei, after graduating was to help detect virus. I feel it is my responsibility to play a role as Shanghai battles a resurgence of the cases.

I had no qualms calling my parents to tell them of my decision, even though I didn't know how they would react to not knowing when they would see me again. To my surprise, they gave me strong support, saying it was my duty to help.

On April 3, I took a train to Shanghai with several other medical workers from hospitals in Hubei. Our work is to review nucleic acid test results.

Wearing protective clothes, we usually work in a laboratory from afternoon to evening, as many samples are collected throughout the city during the day. However, we sometimes have to spend the whole night reviewing results. For example, on April 4 from 10:30 pm to 7 am the next day, we reviewed 7,900 samples to check if any were positive.

We're trying our best to speed up our work while ensuring the accuracy of results, as we all want the city, which has been locked down, to return to normal as soon as possible.

I was initially worried, because it was the first time I had been so close to positive cases of the Omicron variant, which can spread extremely fast. But when I think of the many people waiting for medical treatment based on the test results, I forget the fear and focus on reviewing samples.

This is also my first time in Shanghai. I never thought I would come to the city for work, but I believe this special experience will enrich my life.

What I look forward most after completing this medical mission is a cup of milk tea and a walk around the city.

Liu Yaqin was talking with Cao Yin.