City's police are speaking your language
With the increasing number of people from different countries placed under home quarantine on their return to Shanghai, police on the ground have been getting help with foreign languages.
In Jing’an District, officers are now able to communicate with those isolated at home in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Korean and Persian.
Officers who can speak these languages are in WeChat groups with colleagues serving expats, and can step in when necessary.
So far, 20 officers have helped in over 60 cases, the district’s police said on Wednesday.
“To talk to expats in their mother tongue can make the messages more precise, and also make them feel more at home,” said Bai Wenchao, an officer who speaks Italian and was once on a patrol mission with his counterparts in Italy.
Bai and his foreign language-speaking workmates are also helping colleagues learn some key words and phrases in English.
They have created cards with words such as quarantine, symptoms and fever for police officers. By scanning a QR code on the card, officers can learn how the words and phrases are pronounced.
Police also have leaflets on how to prevent COVID-19 infection in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Korean which have been sought by some foreign consulates in the city to show to their nationals living here.
See the gallery bellow for the leaflets.