Harbin issues antivirus guidelines in four foreign languages

Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, has issued a public letter in four foreign languages, offering novel coronavirus-related information and antivirus guidelines to foreigners.

The public letter was issued by the city government's foreign affairs office in English, Russian, Japanese and Korean. The local education department and the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Harbin also released the letter.

Apart from the latest information about the epidemic, the letter reminds foreigners to enhance self-protection, avoid crowded places and go to designated hospitals for treatment if they have symptoms such as fever, cough and difficulty breathing.

The office also provided phone numbers of hospitals and foreign language consulting services in the letter.

Harbin is known as China's Ice City for its arctic climate which provides abundant natural ice and snow. The city has temporarily closed its scenic attractions to tourists since late January.

By the end of Thursday, Heilongjiang had reported a total of 277 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, with 94 in Harbin.