HANOI, April 8 (DHA Vietnam) - As the battle against the coronavirus outbreak intensifies in more than 200 countries across the globe, the worst disaster to hit the human kind since the World War II, medical staff and health workers have become frontline fighters and hospitals - the battlefield to do nothing but stop the spread and cure infected people.

Poster of the online marathon that lasts between April 8 and April 22, 2020.

Now more than 1.45 million people have contracted the COVID-19 disease and the casualty rises towards 85,000 globally, Vietnam, which shares a long border with China where the virus was originated, has far reported a zero-percent mortality rate among more than 250 human infections. The tally suggests a hidden treasure - an enormous effort put in the battle by thousands of Vietnamese physicians, nurses, medical staff and students as well as retired doctors. Fighting alongside are soldiers, policemen and the entire Southeast Asian nation of 97 million.

This April, a sport event entitled "Home Marathon in Support of White-Blouse Angels to Win the COVID-19 Pandemic" is being organized online to help fuel the determination to win the battle.

Organizers of the VPBank Hanoi Marathon ASEAN 2020, the official race of Hanoi and which hoists the flag of unity this year as Vietnam takes the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, have come up with this delicate way by teaming up with 84RACE, an online platform, to host the running competition containing all the distances and the prize structure exactly like a professional marathon.

All proceeds from registration fees, each worth VND 500,000 (or around USD 20), will be donated to activities in "Support of White-Blouse Angels to Win the COVID-19 Pandemic" and transferred to Vietnam's frontline hospitals to help the physicians.

Registered runners can pick either of the marathon's four distances and complete it at one run, while they can run the distance as many times as possible within the duration of the race, from April 8 through April 22, 2020. Results recorded by their sport watch connected to the 84RACE platform will help determine the winners. Apart from the opportunity to win a prize, each will also get a free Bib to join the VPBank Hanoi Marathon ASEAN 2020 to be held in October 2020.

As the registration for this special event is under way before its end on April 20, organizers expect more and more runners at home and abroad to join the fight against the pandemic.