China opens mental health hotline to relieve viral outbreak stress

BEIJING - A hotline has opened in China to help people relieve mental stress over the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak.

Students, teachers and members of the public can call in to request help with psychological issues related to the epidemic, according to Beijing Normal University, which began providing the service Monday.

The Ministry of Education commended the practice and encouraged the establishment of more such telephone- and internet-based counseling services across the country.

Education authorities of every provincial-level region should choose a local university with the best psychological studies to launch similar services at a proper time, the ministry said.

The new viral pneumonia cases first broke out in the central Chinese city of Wuhan and quickly spread across the country.

Chinese health authorities announced Tuesday that 4,515 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus had been reported in 30 provincial-level regions by the end of Monday. A total of 106 people have died of the disease.

The outbreak is putting many people, especially medical workers, under huge stress.

Jiao Yahui, an official with the National Health Commission, said medical workers felt stressed because the virus is highly contagious and people don't know much about it.

"We will provide psychological counseling to them, strengthen their protection and better meet their needs," Jiao said at a press conference in Beijing Tuesday.