Left to fend for herself after China abruptly ended the world’s strictest COVID-19 restrictions, 31-year-old Share Xue and her daughter found themselves with 40 degree Celsius fevers and an expired bottle of Motrin.
"I didn’t think it would be that difficult to get drugs,” she said from the southern city of Guangzhou, recalling how she had expected the government to take charge and give out medicine during her illness last month. With hospitals overwhelmed, she turned to social media instead — and found an app on WeChat facilitating donations to those in need.
About an hour after detailing her situation, a stranger called offering two free COVID-19 test kits. Thirty minutes later, a woman who had just recovered from COVID-19 told her she could send two ibuprofen pills.