A doctor from the Ningxia Hui autonomous region arrived in Wuhan to support the effort. He is a rock 'n' roll fanatic and looks tough. In a sharp contrast to his image, though, he confesses his fear for being infected. Yet, despite the fear, he chooses to stick to his duty.

In Qin's eyes, these real emotions can touch people on a deeper level.

"Through the documentary, we want to show that people are strong: they stick to their positions and keep working," Qin says. "But it's also a production to remember the lost. Some damage will never have a chance to be fixed after the epidemic passes."

Overseas Chinese living in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, among others, also provided footage for Qin's project, as well as foreigners living in China.

When a scene shows the area around the Sydney Opera House almost empty, perhaps it is easy to understand the significance of the global effort to contain the virus.

Chinese streaming website Youku plans to release One More Day on the platform in late March.

Consequently, Qin is running against the clock to select material from the thousands of clips, but one of the biggest challenges he has to overcome is that some members of his team have to stay at home and adhere to the rigid quarantine requirement in Beijing. The director has had to defer some of their responsibilities to a handful of volunteers to plug the gaps. Seven editors now are fully geared up to finish the project on time.