Photo/Illutration Boxes of face masks sent to the city of Kita-Kyushu by Dalian, China, to help fight the coronavirus (Provided by the Kita-Kyushu city government)

KITA-KYUSHU--A simple gesture of support by Kita-Kyushu to its Chinese sister city during the early days of the coronavirus outbreak is being returned more than 769-fold.

Dalian has donated 200,000 face masks to help Kita-Kyushu battle the virus, after the Japanese city sent Dalian 260 masks in early February when it was in desperate need of the protective gear.

“Let’s stay close together under one umbrella and weather spring rain,” reads a message in Japanese attached to the cardboard boxes containing the masks.

The message is followed by “Kita-Kyushu, Jiayou! Japan, Jiayou!” “Jiayou” means “Hang in there” in Chinese.

On Feb. 5, the Kita-Kyushu city government sent the 260 masks and 70 sets of protective gear to Dalian, as new coronavirus infections were spreading around China.

Though Kita-Kyushu had some 200,000 masks at the time, it was wary of depleting its emergency stockpile in the event of a local outbreak.

By scouring the market, however, the city managed to obtain the 260 extra masks to rush-deliver to Dalian.

The city packed them in boxes bearing a message in Chinese reading, “Dalian, Jiayou!” and put them on a direct flight from Kita-Kyushu Airport to Dalian just before flights were suspended to the city.

In March, infections were also confirmed in Kita-Kyushu.

The city on March 4 freed up 160,000 face masks, 80 percent of its stock, for those in need, such as private medical institutions and facilities for the elderly and people with disabilities.

As its number of masks began to dwindle, the city scrambled to secure supply routes offering them at a low price, without much success.

On March 8, the Dalian city government stepped in with an offer of support for Kita-Kyushu, after its own pace of new infections slowed.

After Kita-Kyushu accepted the offer, Dalian said it would send 200,000 face masks to the city for free.

Kita-Kyushu plans to distribute the donated masks to medical institutions, facilities for elderly people and pregnant women in the city.

“We’re very grateful as we wanted to boost our reserve of face masks to the previous level of 200,000,” a city official said.

The Kita-Kyushu city government opened its representative office in Dalian after signing a friendship agreement with the Chinese city in 1979.

(This article was written by Eiji Iseki and Kazuki Nunota.)

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