Syed Shams ul Hassan, a doctor from Australia, collects throat samples at a nucleic acid testing site in Ningbo. [Photo/Ningbo Daily]

Syed Shams ul Hassan, a doctor from Australia, served as a volunteer at a nucleic acid testing site in Ningbo, Zhejiang province during the recent COVID-19 outbreak in the city's Fenghua district.

To help stem the outbreak of the coronavirus, a third round of mass nucleic acid testing was conducted in Fenghua on May 6.

Hassan arrived at a testing site in Jinshan Park in the early morning to help collect throat samples.

According to Xu Lifeng, Party secretary of Changling Community, Hassan had already applied to serve as a volunteer in anti-pandemic efforts.

"We arranged for him to scan health codes, but he said he was a doctor and had been trained collecting throat samples," said Xu, "We were in need of professional medical workers."

Hassan speaks fluent Mandarin, which helped him to perform his duties smoothly. He had to bend down to collect samples due to his height.

This was not Hassan's first time serving as a volunteer at a testing site, so he was familiar with the process.

"I'm a doctor, that's why I joined in the anti-pandemic efforts," said Hassan.

Hassan came to China for study six years ago and received a doctorate of medicine from Shanghai Jiaotong University.