Donnie Yen, the 56-year-old star of the hit “Ip Man” franchise, made a donation of 1 million Hong Kong dollars (around $128,600) to medical workers fighting the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Wuhan.
The announcement was made in a 28-second Weibo video where he thanked those who are fighting on the front lines against the COVID-19 outbreak, which is believed to have originated from a wet market in Wuhan, a city in the Hubei province of China, according to South China Morning Post.
“Hello everyone, I am Yen Ji-dan. I want to take this opportunity to thank all the medical frontline workers [in China]. In this critical moment, everyone please protect yourself well by wearing a mask and washing your hands more often,” Yen said in Mandarin.
“Distance yourself from the virus but don’t distance love. I believe our country [China] will win the battle against the virus and have the situation under control. Wuhan add oil [keep going], China add oil.”
In addition to the money, Yen will also donate paintings made by his children, Jasmine and James, to “spread cheer” to those who have been affected by the outbreak.
The donation will reportedly be sent to the Wuhan Charity Federation, which has already raised almost 2.8 billion yuan ($403 million) in less than two weeks, according to China Daily’s report earlier this month.
Yen is just one of the many celebrities and billionaires making a donation to those affected by the outbreak. To date, the virus has infected 75,728 people and killed 2,128 more, according to Worldometers.
Chinese actress Fan Bingbing made a $72,000 donation to the Wuhan Benevolent General Association, SCMP reported. Hong Kong actor Louis Koo also made a donation of $1.9 million to the same association, as well as Huang Xiaoming and Angelababy, who donated $40,000.
Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu and her husband Wang Xiaofei donated 10,000 face masks that they bought from Japan.
Alibaba’s co-founder, Jack Ma, also donated 100 million yuan ($14.4 million) to help scientists develop a cure for the COVID-19.
Images via News.Sina
