Ambassador Liao Liqiang: Four initiatives to help overseas Chinese and international students fight the epidemic in situ

Ambassador Liao Liqiang: Four initiatives to help overseas Chinese and international students fight the epidemic in situ
Source: China Youth Daily Client

Reporter: Chen Xiaoru

On May 24, Egypt will celebrate Eid al-Fitr. However, affected by the new coronary pneumonia epidemic, Egyptian Prime Minister Madbouli has announced that Egypt will implement stricter epidemic prevention and control measures around Eid al-Fitr from May 24 to 29, including the implementation of a six-day new curfew (5 pm to 6 am), forcing the public to wear masks to travel, completely closing all shopping malls, beaches, entertainment venues and mosques in the territory, and suspending inter-provincial traffic and all public transportation in the territory.

According to a statement issued by the Egyptian Ministry of Health on May 20, there were 720 new confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia in Egypt on May 19, with a total of 13484 confirmed cases; 14 new deaths and a total of 659 deaths; and a total of 3740 cases were cured and discharged from hospital.

On April 20, Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang (seventh from left) distributed "health packages" to compatriots in Egypt ". (Chinese Embassy in Egypt)

What difficulties have the nearly 8000 Chinese, overseas Chinese and students studying in Egypt encountered after the outbreak of the epidemic? What help and guidance has the Chinese Embassy in Egypt provided them?

Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang said in an interview with a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that in response to the epidemic, the Egyptian government has successively adopted a series of epidemic prevention measures such as suspension of flights and curfews. The business, production, and lives of many overseas Chinese have been greatly affected. In order to help overseas Chinese and overseas students in Egypt overcome the difficulties encountered during the epidemic, the embassy has mainly done four tasks: issuing consular reminders, distributing "health packages" and "assistance packages", doing Egyptian work to win Egyptian support, and inviting a team of experts from Peking Union Medical College Hospital in China to hold video lectures on the prevention and control of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic and psychological counseling for Chinese compatriots in Egypt.

On April 20, Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang handed out "health kits" to compatriots in Egypt ". (Chinese Embassy in Egypt)

Ambassador Liao Liqiang said that due to the underdeveloped local medical and health conditions in Egypt, the limited reserves of epidemic prevention materials, and the rapid spread of the epidemic, masks, gloves and other epidemic prevention items on the market are relatively scarce. Many overseas Chinese and international students were once very worried about how to do a good job of protection and how to seek medical treatment once infected. In response to these problems, on the one hand, the embassy issued consular reminders in a timely manner and set up a remote online medical treatment platform to guide compatriots in Egypt to do a good job in scientific protection and reduce the risk of cross-infection; on the other hand, the embassy also held video conferences and telephone calls with overseas students to help them Answer difficult problems and solve specific difficulties, especially the problem of insufficient epidemic prevention items. Up to now, the embassy has issued two batches of "health packages", covering all students studying in Egypt, Confucius Institute teachers, and Chinese volunteers.

On April 20, Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang (right) and representatives of overseas Chinese in Egypt participated in the "health package" distribution activity. (Chinese Embassy in Egypt)

In view of the situation that some overseas students have been affected by the epidemic, the embassy has also mobilized Chinese enterprises, overseas Chinese groups and overseas students to "pair up" to help overseas students fight the epidemic on the spot. Ambassador Liao said that the embassy mobilized the Education Foundation for Students in Egypt and the Egyptian Stone Association to donate 300000 Egyptian pounds of "special grants against epidemics" to support Chinese students, and distributed rice, edible oil and other food to some students with more difficulties. In the next step, the embassy will continue to purchase epidemic prevention materials from China and distribute them to Chinese compatriots in Egypt.

In order to further allay the concerns of overseas students, Ambassador Liao and his colleagues actively contacted the Egyptian Minister of higher Education, Minister of the Interior, Minister of Health, Minister of State of Information, head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other high-level government officials through meetings, letters, phone calls, and photo sessions, asking Egypt to protect and take good care of Chinese students studying in Egypt. After the communication, the Egyptian Minister of Higher Education once told Ambassador Liao, "My phone is the hotline for Chinese students"; the Egyptian Minister of the Interior also promised that Egypt will not impose penalties on Chinese citizens who stay in Egypt for extended periods due to the epidemic.

After the outbreak of the epidemic, some students worried about the way to seek medical treatment if they were infected, and had the idea of returning to China to avoid the epidemic. In order to allay the worries of overseas students and other Chinese compatriots in Egypt about medical treatment, Ambassador Liao and his colleagues made several efforts to finally get the Egyptian side to identify the Schönbrunn Palace Hospital (Kasr ElAini Teaching Hospital) under the Ministry of Higher Education and the Agami Hospital (ElAgamy General Hospital) under the Ministry of Health as designated service hospitals for Chinese citizens. If there is a confirmed infection among compatriots in Egypt, they can receive treatment in the above two hospitals, and the embassy will make every effort to provide various safeguards. At the same time, the embassy is also actively promoting the domestic dispatch of medical experts to Egypt for exchanges.

Original title "Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang: Four initiatives to help international students fight the epidemic in place"