Robots Brought into Epidemic Control

The onset of this year saw the world gripped by the sudden onslaught of an epidemic， which saw a group of special soldiers， a diverse set of robots， catapulted into the spotlight.

Leveraging the latest advancements in iris recognition technology， the robots can instantly and accurately verify the identity of the person wearing a face mask， and issue a read-out on their body temperature simultaneously.

In multiple areas across Hubei Province， the AI-powered robots have become an incredible asset for disease screening and investigation. These robots， adopting “cloud+ AI” technology， can be quickly deployed to automatically record return visits， generate reports， automatically transfer to staff services when encountering suspected cases of novel coronavirus， promptly collect data about the health status of the residents， and conduct analysis and summary.

During the epidemic， for sites with dense concentration of people such as schools and hospitals， these robots have become the “best candidates” for monitoring on the frontline.

According to China Academy for Information and Communications （CAICT）， a dozen of 5G applications have been utilized in the epidemic prevention and control， part of which are realized by remotely operated robots. They include the 5G intelligent robots based on cloud computing， responsible for tele-nursing， temperature measurement， disinfection， cleaning， and drug delivery that are used in Hubei， Zhejiang， Shanghai， and other places.

These advanced technologies which have been gradually “implanted” in treatment， and disease prevention and control can not only reduce the risks of cross-infection of personnel， but also improve the quarantine and control level of the wards.

A Million Graduates Ready for Internships

You Jun， vice minister of human resources and social security， said at a recent press conference that the number of Chinese college graduates this year reached a new record， totaling 8.74 million. The employment pressure is enormous when additional graduates who left schools in previous years and yet to find jobs are also counted. You said that this years epidemic outbreak has had a great impact on college graduates job-hunting. The spring is usually considered the golden season for recruitment. The epidemic has led to a decline in recruitment demand in the market， offline recruitment activities have stopped， internships have been interrupted， and many graduates feel anxious. In this regard， the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security， together with the Ministry of Education and other departments， actively responded to this situation and quickly launched a raft of policies and measures.

The first is to broaden employment channels by refining related policies. Apart from supporting startups and encouraging firms to hire graduates， those policies will guide graduates to occupy posts in grassroots units.

Second， recruitment services will be improved. This includes increasing online recruitment， launching online guidance， and organizing 100 career mentors to set up a “cloud classroom” of employment counseling.

Third， the scale of internship will be expanded. Enterprises that open their internship positions will receive state subsidies of 3-12 months.

Fourth， assistance for students in financial straits will be increased. For the graduates who have left the campus but are not employed， their information will be filed with education department to facilitate provision of relevant services.

Clinching Decisive Victory in the Battle against Poverty

On March 6， the symposium on securing a decisive victory in poverty alleviation was held in Beijing. This is the largest conference on poverty alleviation since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China （CPC）. General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the meeting. He stressed that the poor in rural areas by the current standards should be lifted out of poverty this year. This is a solemn promise made by the CPC Central Committee to the people of the whole country and must be realized as scheduled.

Given the impact of the novel coronavirus epidemic， the poverty reduction mission is now more demanding.

The epidemic brings new challenges in tackling poverty. At present， the flow of migrant workers is blocked， agricultural and industrial production is interrupted， some poverty alleviation projects are suspended， and in some areas hit hard by the epidemic officials stationed in villages to assist local poverty alleviation work are temporarily unable to carry out their visits. In the face of the raging epidemic， we should be firm in confidence， have innovative thinking， and strive to overcome adverse factors.

At present， there are 52 counties and 2，707 impoverished villages that have not yet been removed from the poverty lists， and not all registered poor residents have been pulled out of poverty. It is necessary to give more assistance to small farmers and support a group of enterprises that meet the needs of small farmers and help boost their production and sales. There are plans to put more funds and projects into the market and support brand building. We should connect poverty alleviation work and rural revitalization， and strengthen the supporting role of industrial revitalization in poverty alleviation. Through promotion of industry， more poor people will be lifted out of poverty， and their incomes will be gradually raised.