I overcame a daunting, but essential, challenge

Unlike my colleagues who wore police uniforms when fighting the COVID-19 outbreak, I had to wear thick protective clothing on duty like a medical worker. That's because my job was to ensure the safety of the Beijing You'an Hospital, which was designated to treat confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, and its surroundings.

I am often asked, "Were you afraid at work?" and my answer is always "Yes". I was anxious when I saw ambulances come and go at the hospital gates and I was very sad when I saw patients being carried in and out of the vehicles.

Helping the hospital fight the virus in the first few months of the year was hard and challenging as I needed to avoid the high risk of becoming infected, while also maintaining the security of the area.

I had to deal with those difficulties, though, because it was my duty, along with safeguarding the medics, whose jobs were much harder and much more dangerous than mine.

When I heard that some doctors and nurses could not find rooms in hotels near the hospital to rest after a night shift, I decided to help them.

After all, a good night's sleep would make a big contribution to saving the dying and healing the sick.

I understood the hotel workers' concerns about transmission of the virus, of course, but I spoke with them patiently, called on them to fight the pandemic along with the medics and guided them in strengthening control measures.

My efforts resulted in a hotel agreeing to offer rooms to the medics. Providing a greater sense of security for those on the front line of the fight was my job.

Many medical workers at the hospital thanked me, but I just thought this group of people who braved all the dangers of the pandemic definitely deserved respect and help.

If you ask whether anything made me feel guilty during the fight, my answer would also be "Yes"－I'm talking about my wife and our newborn baby.

I felt so sorry for them as I couldn't help my wife look after the child during the outbreak, even though she always said "No problem" during our video calls.

At those moments, I told myself to work hard and redoubled my love for the family.

Fu Tianlei spoke with Cao Yin.