BEIJING: Wearing a mask, two layers of gloves, goggles and protective suit, Yu Linmin trudged around an exhibition-turned transit center for inbound passengers in Beijing and translated for a foreigner who was filling out forms.
Yu, 30, is a teacher from the University of Science and Technology Beijing. Now he has a new identity: a volunteer translator at the New China International Exhibition Center.
International flight passengers arriving in Beijing were screened for fever and coughing at the airport. Those who did not show symptoms were routed to the exhibition center, about 8 km away from the airport, for further checks before heading to various quarantine sites.
“No winter lasts forever, and spring is sure to follow,” says a banner hanging on the wall where the smell of disinfectants lingers in the air.
“We usually maintain a distance of no less than 1 meter with passengers while helping them fill in forms including their name, nationality and address or explaining why they came here and what they are going to do,” Yu said. “We also need to ease their anxieties.”
The translators try to share self-protection knowledge involving wearing masks correctly, frequent hand washing and disinfection with the passengers.
To facilitate communication with foreigners, the transit center provides multiple language services, including English and Japanese, to inbound passengers in need of help. Together with 28 students from the university, Yu came to the center on Sunday. They will work for the next 14 days and sleep in nearby hotels. When they fulfill their tasks, they will undergo a 14-day quarantine at a designated venue. That means the translators cannot go home for nearly a whole month.
– The Daily Mail-People’s Daily News exchange item
