In response to surging cases of the novel coronavirus, Tencent offers its financial resources and product technologies to help fight the epidemic.
On January 24, Tencent Charity Foundation announced a donation of RMB300 million to set up the first phase of a new pneumonia prevention and control fund. The donation will be mainly used for front-line combat and prevention of epidemic disease in Wuhan and other places, including the purchase of materials such as masks, disinfectants, goggles, and help for front-line medical staff.
Designated charitable organizations have been given funding since January 25. Among the 1.5 million masks purchased with the fund, 100 thousand have already been distributed in Wuhan city while the other 1.4 million are on the way to meet the needs of emergency personnel and the general public. At the same time, the purchase of advanced medical and protective equipment is also being coordinated in order to assist front-line medical professionals.
Tencent will continue paying close attention to the development of epidemic, expediting the delivery of materials and ensuring that funds are distributed quickly and effectively.
In addition to financial aid, Tencent is helping the medical industry fight the deadly virus using its technology and products. Many of its products have started to deliver functions related to the epidemic with more functions from other products to be released soon.
“Fever Clinic Map” Goes Live
Tencent has also launched an out-patient clinic map to track fever, allowing WeChat users to look for the nearest fever clinics accurately and in the shortest time. At present, there are more than 1,900 out-patient clinics in 52 cities across the country. The information will be kept updated.
New information channels have been created over a number of Tencent product platforms, including Wechat, Weishi and Tencent Kandian, to help users stay informed about the latest developments related to the coronavirus and quickly access information to help prevent and control the disease. In addition, given the overwhelming amount of information about the epidemic, a real-time fact-checker for novel coronavirus pneumonia has been launched on the Tencent News platform, enabling users to identify false news.
Tencent Medipedia, an authoritative, professional platform for healthcare information, has included entries related to “novel pneumonia”. These new entries have been edited and reviewed by 17 renowned medical experts and include information about symptoms, etiology, medical treatment and prevention. More than 400 pictures, texts and videos have been added to the platform.
Tencent Meeting and Online Education Services Are Provided Free-of-Charge
Following authorities’ recommendation to stay indoors during an epidemic, Tencent Education has launched a number of free online services to ensure that users can study at home.
Working with a number of online education platforms, Tencent Education has offered series of online courses for students in Wuhan. Meanwhile, Tencent’s education products such as Penguin Tutoring, Study.qq.com, Tencent ABCmouse, Tencent Classroom, are providing free services to primary and secondary school students in the worst-hit province of Hubei, including complimentary online courses and intelligent teaching assistance services, which allow students and teachers to participate in lectures online.
Other than student learning, Tencent is also aware of the need for remote business communications. From January 24 to March 1, 2020, Tencent Meeting will offer all users free and unlimited-time meetings for up to 100 participants, as well as 24/7 round-the-clock service and support.
