A tour guide speaks during a live streaming tour in the Potala Palace, Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, March 1, 2020. Photo: Xinhua

Tibetan regions in China have promoted COVID-19 prevention awareness through local dialects by introducing new Tibetan words, plays, and works of literature.

In its latest communique, language authorities in Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region published over 200 new Tibetan words and phrases for COVID-19, released on the language committee's official website.

The new words include ones for novel coronavirus, makeshift hospitals, and quarantine. Other vocabulary words for lockdowns, food hoarding, travel bans, and concealing facts were also approved.

"The new vocabulary provides a standard regulation for increasing COVID-19 prevention knowledge in the Tibetan language," said the language committee head, the Xinhua News Agency reported. The words will be used for radio programs, videos, and posters.

Tibet has only reported one COVID-19 patient, who was discharged on February 12. The region has applied strict prevention measures similar to other regions across China. 

Besides standardizing new words, Tibet has also produced bilingual TV programs aimed at increasing disease prevention awareness, which has also been combined with Gesar, the Tibetan epic. 

A Tibetan troupe performed traditional musicals or operas to popularize knowledge, Xinhua reported.

In Southwest China's Sichuan Province, local media made COVID-19 prevention awareness videos in 20 Tibetan dialects, which were viewed over 11 million times on March 8, according to China Press and Publishing Media Group.