Back on China campuses, Indian students put behind surge worries: We are looking ahead

“I took a risk and decided to come back when the Chinese government began issuing visas in August. We couldn’t have wasted any more time back home. After all, you can’t do MBBS through online classes,” says Ashutosh, a final-year student of Youjiang Medical University in Guangxi.

In January 2020, as the pandemic shut down campuses, sealed borders and grounded flights, around 1,000 Indians in China, mostly students of medicine, were evacuated back home. Over the next three years, the students attended online classes while waiting for China to ease visa restrictions and allow them back into the country. Earlier this year, in August, when China finally said international students could apply for visas, many of the students packed their bags to head back to their campuses.

Ashutosh says that despite anxious calls from his family over the rising Covid cases in China, the situation is not as dire as it seems.

“The Zero-Covid policy has been removed and the third round of vaccinations are being given to people. Also, I haven’t heard of too many deaths or cases of severe illnesses around me. In my medical college, too, there are not many patients. Had the situation been severe, China wouldn’t have thought of opening its borders,” says Ashutosh, who came to China on November 27 via Hong Kong.

“I had to stay in quarantine for five days in Hong Kong and later for three more days once I reached the university. Now even the quarantine period has been removed; only those with symptoms need to be isolated,” says Ashutosh.

From January 8, China is expected to further ease some of its restrictions, including the mandatory quarantine for incoming travellers.

Reeba Khan, 23, reached China on October 25. “The situation then was very different – RTPCR tests were being conducted every 48 hours. But now, the quarantine policy has changed and hospitals are taking in only those with severe and co-morbid conditions,” says Reeba, a fifth-year MBBS student at Hubei University of Medicine in Shiyan City.

Reeba says she is most excited about how the city has come alive after long. “There are no lockdowns or restrictions. The shops and malls are open and people are out shopping. The only rule that’s in place is of masks,” she says.

Anayat Ali, a PhD student at Tongji University in Shanghai, too, says he can’t have enough of the “celebratory Christmas mood”.

“We went to a German market recently. It was packed, mostly with local residents. It’s such a relief that people are finally shopping and travelling. In October, when one case was reported in our university, the entire campus shut down; that’s no longer the case,” he says.

Andrews Mathew, President of the Foreign Medical Graduates Parents Association, says parents of those studying in China have been watching China’s Covid graph closely and fervently hoping that the situation doesn’t slip.

“China has opened its border after three years due to which there is a mild spike in the disease but reports of deaths and hospitalisations are exaggerated,” says Andrews, who lives in Kozhikode in Kerala. His 24-year-old son Jonad Andrews is pursuing his MBBS from Jilin University.

“I have waited for very long to complete my MBBS. I was very restless and worried while at home. But now that I am finally back on campus, I am at ease. The situation is a lot different now… Restaurants are open, we can freely go to public places now,” he says.

Kanupriya, 24, who is pursuing her Master’s in Business Administration at Beijing Foreign Studies University, is undergoing a mandatory seven-day quarantine. “Everything is now open… Some of my friends even attended a Christmas party. I can’t wait to get out of quarantine. I am graduating in July and I want to make the most of my time on campus,” says the 24-year-old.