By Thomas Weise

Thomas Weise form Hefei University

First, I would like to state that the Chinese government and my employment unit are doing an excellent job in this situation. I feel safe and very well informed and receive regular notifications, news, and reports, including A Handbook of 2019-nCoV Pneumonia Control and Prevention, Public Prevention of Pneumonia Caused by Novel Coronavirus , Questions and Answers by National Immigration Administration concerning Immigration and Exit-Entry Administration during the Period of Prevention and Control on Pneumonia caused by Novel Coronavirus , as well as the Notice on Preventing and Controlling New Coronavirus Epidemic for Foreign Experts Working in China. I am always in close contact with our international office and my faculty. My family and I have also been provided with supplies by our university, including also face masks and disinfectant. We are confident that our city, province, and country will soon beat the disease.

My family (son, wife, and I) will stay in the city Hefei during the epidemic. Hefei is our home and we will await the end of the epidemic here.I believe that the Chinese people are putting up a heroic fight against this disease and are, actually, fighting for the safety of the whole world right now.

It is the nurses and doctors who need to do the fighting, who have no sleep, who are constantly in danger to get themselves infected, who work until they fall down. So what is the job of the foreign expert here? It is the same as the job of every normal Chinese citizen. We need to make sure to not get infected. That’s it and it is simple. Only if we do not get infected, we won’t infect anybody else. Only then the doctors can win the war against the disease. So my family and I do not leave our flat at all. While I do believe that it is safe outside in Hefei with proper protection, I think we should listen to the experts and to not run any risk. The foreign experts should do exactly what every Chinese person should do, stay at home and go outside only if it cannot be avoided. Do not go to public places, do not travel, do not eat dinner with friends, wash your hands, stay healthy, follow the advice given by the administration and medical experts.

Currently, I believe that the international community considers China’s efforts against the virus as strong and efficient. The Chinese medical service and administration do what they can do and take all reasonable measures. I also think that by showing transparency and by publishing all information about the virus, China has done everything it can do to enable international collaboration at the present time. Additional and future collaboration could maybe take place on the administrative level in order to try to prevent the spreading of diseases over country borders and in terms of medical research.