Intl students, scholars in China weigh in on virus fight

My name is Tauhid and I'm doing a masters degree in Yangzhou University. A pneumonia outbreak was first reported in the city of Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province in December 2019. Experts have attributed the outbreak to a novel coronavirus that has since spread across China and abroad. I made the decision to stay here rather than returning to my country. A large number of international students are still in Yangzhou and our university is doing a good job of keeping us informed and safe.

I have never faced a situation like this before. But the university and authorities are very good at looking after us. My university is checking every student's body temperature every day and offering free masks. We have been advised to wash our hands every hour, avoid eating outside and wear our masks every time we come out of our rooms. We are all staying in our rooms and only visit our friends in rooms that are close to ours. But the virus also reveals an amazing truth - that we're all interconnected, so much more closely than we might have thought.

I've never seen anything like it, how quick these measures came into place and how everyone is obeying these rules. I’m not going to say no one's scared, but everyone is calm. It’s not a Hollywood movie, it’s not a frantic situation. Credit should also go to foreign students in Wuhan and across Hubei province who have chosen to stay and help the local people and government fight the virus. There are other ways to show our solidarity, but we can share their motivational words: “Wuhan jiayou,China jiayou."

Tauhid Sajjad Mbbs is a master's degree student in orthopedic surgery at Yangzhou University, Jiangsu province.