The State Council of the People’s Republic of China recently published a list of hotlines for foreigners in China to call amid the coronavirus outbreak. The list includes phone numbers for every province, municipality and autonomous region, as well as additional contacts for those living in Hubei province. Although the list of hotlines doesn’t state whether bilingual speakers are available, we can confirm after calling multiple provinces that English speakers are present. The hotlines are offered for any inquiries or issues you may have during this difficult time.

As the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) has surged to over 40,000, some families have been split up as disease carriers and suspected cases need to be quarantined to combat the spread of the virus. This makes communication with the government paramount as China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs has called on local authorities to identify any children isolated or without proper guardianship as a result of nationwide efforts to quarantine all infected and suspected patients.

The ministry noted that authorities need to identify children whose parents are quarantined or involved in the virus prevention efforts, and offer the appropriate services to care for them. In late January, a 17-year-old boy with cerebral palsy was found dead inside his home in Huanggang, Hubei, nearly a week after his family members were placed under quarantine for treatment, according to China Daily. The hotlines have been established to avoid any similar cases from happening.

Here are phone numbers that you can call during this epidemic:

North China

Beijing – 010-12345, 010-55574000
Tianjin – 022-58368675
Hebei – 0311-12320, 0311-87807316
Shanxi – 0351-4048572
Inner Mongolia – 0471-4824768

Northeast China

Liaoning – 18304006378
Jilin – 13596479838
Heilongjiang – 0451-53642647, 13836168987

East China

Shanghai – 021-12345
Jiangsu – 18915991982
Zhejiang – 13968133909
Anhui – 0551-62703790, 18905696606, 13615695709
Fujian – 0591-87853640
Jiangxi – 18270829126
Shandong – 0531-88738367, 0531-88737580

Central China

Henan – 0371-65688846
Hunan – 0731-84510280, 0731-12320
Hubei – 027-87122256
Wuhan – 15989499096 (midnight-12pm), 13419692520 (12pm-midnight)

South China

Guangdong – 020-81054279
Guangxi – 0771-12320, 0771-5626662
Hainan – 0898-12320

Southwest China

Chongqing – 13983713238
Sichuan – 028-86131488
Yunnan – 0871-12320
Tibet – 0891-6323987
Guizhou – 15085919704, 17718003843

Northwest China

Shaanxi – 029-87290355
Gansu – 13893113366
Qinghai – 0971-8239746
Ningxia – 0951-5035766, 18695551004
Xinjiang – 0991-6176587

For regular updates on the novel coronavirus outbreak in China, .

[Cover image via Pixabay]