Snapshot of Peng Wu's twitter about the chart of infected cases in the UK on Wednesday Photo: Snapshot of Peng Wu's twitter

Chinese netizens expressed their amazement online after it was revealed that the daily charts tracking the increase in novel coronavirus cases in the UK were being uploaded by a Chinese student studying in the UK rather than the country's own government authorities.

Since March 5, Peng Wu, a Chinese student pursuing a master's degree at Leeds University, has been updating a chart tracking the daily increase in confirmed novel coronavirus cases in the UK based on data released by the country's Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). Each day, Wu quickly updates the chart, which allows viewers to see the growth curve of the virus at a glance, as soon as the DHSC announces the daily numbers on Twitter. His quick response has earned him many compliments from netizens in both the UK and China.

Many British netizens expressed their gratitude toward Peng on Twitter. Some even have been using the hashtag #PengForPM as a rallying cry for the DHSC to do better when it comes to controlling and preventing the spread of the disease in the UK.

Peng has also gone viral on Chinese social media. On China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo, the hashtag #OverseasChineseStudentInUKPengWu had reached 230 million views as of Thursday afternoon.

"This is what a good Chinese youth should do. We need to fight against the virus together," one Chinese netizen wrote on Sina Weibo.

Aside from praising Peng for his kind move, many Chinese netizens said they were surprised that the UK government was not producing an official growth chart and called for the government not to miss out on supplying such authoritative and important information during such a critical period of time.

"I don't understand. Why are the charts being made by a Chinese student? Shouldn't they be made and published by the country's medical center? I am kind of worried about the country," one Chinese netizen posted on Sina Weibo.

"China is busy offering help to Europe, not only medical staff and supplies, but also when it comes to updating charts of COVID-19 infected cases for the UK," one Chinese netizen joked.