As of 12 o’clock on February 5, there were no confirmed or suspected cases infected by the novel coronavirus among the students of the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) who remained in the institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Wuhan during the winter vacation. Since January 2020, UCAS and Wuhan Education Center, CAS, have been making great efforts for the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus epidemic to protect students.
According to the statistics, 114 UCAS graduate students stayed at their host institutes in Wuhan during the Spring Festival, including 39 Chinese students and 75 international students. CAS Wuhan Branch and the host institutes provide masks, disposable gloves, disinfectants and other protective equipment to the students. All the institutes implement strict administrative rules on the management of students’ apartment buildings. Administrative personnel are on duty 24 hours a day to control entry of nonresidents, and to ensure water and power supply and daily disinfection. To ensure that students could maintain basic life, Wuhan Branch and institutes purchased food which was distributed to students for free. Wuhan Botanical Garden even sent rice, flour, cooking oil and other cooking material to international students for them to cook.
Concerning students’ mental health, UCAS is providing psychological service hotlines to students 24 hours a day. Education personnel of UCAS and the host institutes keep a close eye on students’ physical and mental conditions, and are ready to provide counseling service and psychological support when needed.