"How can we better protect ourselves and our family?" "What is the risk of infection if I was in contact with a COVID-19 patient?" "Should I wear a protective suit when travelling on a plane?" ......

Overseas students from Beijing are severely hit by the pandemic raging across the world. Their safety and health are at the heart of the people at home. On December 3, the Foreign Affairs Office of the People's Government of Beijing Municipality held the 9th monthly lecture on consular protection online, focusing on COVID-19 prevention and physical and psychological health. Over 3,000 students studying in the U.S. and Canada and student parents attended the lecture.

Dr. Jiang Rongmeng, a Chief Physician at Beijing Ditan Hospital and a member of the National Expert Group response to the COVID-19, gave a lecture on COVID-19 prevention and control, introducing the epidemiologic history and symptoms of COVID-19. To reduce the risk of cross infection, he advised the students and parents against unnecessary travel, cross-border movement, and large-scale gatherings during holidays.For personal health and safety, he said that people should wear a mask properly, wash hands and ventilate rooms frequently, and keep a safe social distance. In case of emergency, people can contact the local Chinese embassy or consulate or call 12308, the hotline of Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Global Emergency Call Center for Consular Protection and Services, to seek consular protection and assistance. Representatives and students who talked with the lecturer online praised the lecture as informative, saying that they not only gained more knowledge about epidemic prevention and control, but also had a better understanding of consular protection.

Currently, the epidemic situation remains grim and complex and sporadic COVID-19 cases are still found in China. The pandemic is not over yet, and the government cannot afford to make any mistake in epidemic prevention and control. The Foreign Affairs Office of the People's Government of Beijing Municipality always attaches great importance to ensuring the safety and health of overseas Beijingers. This is the second online lecture on epidemic prevention delivered by Dr. Jiang for overseas students from Beijing, which aims to provide them with knowledge and experience in dealing with COVID-19. Since the beginning of this year, the Beijing Foreign Affairs Office followed the general strategy of preventing inbound infections and domestic resurgence and instructed all district-level foreign affairs offices to organize events on overseas Chinese students' safety and consular protection. Moreover, it invited experts to deliver lectures on epidemic prevention and consular protection. These lectures help people fight COVID-19 with science-based measures and optimism, encourage people to follow the pandemic control rules of local health authorities, and continuously improve people's security awareness and risk prevention capabilities.

The event was strongly supported by College Daily.