MILWAUKEE — As the coronavirus epidemic continues in China, one local group is trying to help.
The Milwaukee Chinese Community Center has set up a fundraiser to help get desperately needed medical supplies to China. The donations will go towards the U.S.-China Chicago Regional Support Donation Group. You can donate in two ways.
1) Send a check to MCCC, PO BOX 664, Brookfield, WI 5300-0664. Make checks payable to Milwaukee Chinese Community Center and write Wuhan nCoV Fund in the memo. The MCCC Finance Team will provide you with a receipt.
2) You can also donate by visiting MCCC's website homepage. Click the "Donate" button at the bottom of the page to pay, and the receipt will be returned by email.
"Whenever something happens like this, as part of [the] community, we just do as we do for other communities," said Jian Sun, the president of the Milwaukee Chinese Community Center.
Helping is part of his organization's mission, as they've partnered with several local charities and have donated thousands to Hurricane Harvey efforts.
"We're a global village," Sun said. "No matter how far away, we're still connected."
In China, more than 11,000 people are sick and more than 250 have died from the coronavirus.
Experts say it's spreading faster than the SARS epidemic in 2003.
"Whereas the entire SARS outbreak over the course of eight months had about 8,000 cases, we passed that today," said UW-Madison Assistant Biochemistry Prof. Robert Kirchdoerfer said.
Kirchdoerfer said there are hundreds of coronaviruses that affect humans and animals, but this one is new, and there's still a lot that experts don't know.
"It appears to continue to grow despite efforts to limit people's movements," Kirchdoerfer said.
There are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Wisconsin. As of Friday, officials have tested nine people. Two tests have come back negative, and the other seven are pending.
