Launching Special Campaign to Help Street People

The Ministry of Civil Affairs and 10 other central agencies launched a three-month campaign in March to help drifters and panhandlers.

Relevant departments worked in coordination to devise assistance measures， especially focusing on minors， elderly people， and people with mental illnesses. A society-wide assistance network is established with the participation of primary-level authorities， social service organizations， charity， and volunteer groups， as well as bus and taxi drivers.

Regional authorities help homeless people settle down， and place those who cannot live on their own in institutional care according to their conditions， including senior citizen homes and mental health facilities. After homeless people are reunited with their families， local governments send personnel to visit them at home， to learn if they have any difficulty in life， work， or accessing medical care. Such difficulties are then reported to related authorities， who are obliged to provide assistance to the former drifters. Civil affairs departments of county governments share information with local poverty alleviation departments to closely monitor the registered impoverished households whose members have been drifters or beggars， and provide them the help needed.

Retired Teachers Recruited to Support Universities in Western Areas

The Ministry of Education has launched a campaign recruiting retired teachers to support the development of universities in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Yunnan Province. About 120-140 teachers will be selected for this year. The campaign aims to ease the pressure of talent shortages that is faced by industries and enterprises in Chinas western areas.

These retired teachers are expected to teach classes， provide didactical tutoring， and engage in research and team building in the schools they are sent to. They can conduct these activities in person or online， and for both short and long terms. Long-term programs are no less than one year.

Funding for this campaign largely comes from the Ministry of Education. Teachers are paid annually， monthly or per teaching hour. The local schools they work for will pay for their transport， insurance， heating， and other benefits.

No Harm on Hubei Environment from the Epidemic

At a recent news briefing by Hubei provincial command center for the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus， local officials said that medical waste in Hubei had been properly and promptly disposed of， leaving no impact on the local environment.

According to Lü Wenyan， chief of the provincial eco-environment administration， Hubeis daily capacity to treat medical waste had increased from 180 tons prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 to 667.4 tons by the end of March， with the capacity of Wuhan rising from 50 tons to 265.6 tons. At every hospital that received COVID-19 patients and quarantine facilities across the province， waste water is disinfected； and all the 132 sewage treatment factories receiving waste water from these localities are operating smoothly.

In the second half of February， the daily volume of medical waste in Hubei exploded， soaring from 136 tons before the outbreak to 458 tons. Failing to properly and promptly dispose of the waste would undermine epidemic prevention and control in the region. In response， the local government adopted various measures， including building new treatment facilities， installing mobile facilities， outfitting industrial incinerators， and transferring medical waste from Wuhan to neighboring cities for treatment.

According to surveys of the facilities treating solid medical waste and sewage from hospitals， supply sources of drinking water in urban areas and enterprises resuming production， the water quality in Hubei remains at the same level as it was during the same period last year， and water sources are uncontaminated.