Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Quashing rumours that Pakistani nationals were in any imminent threat of contracting coronavirus, the Foreign Office on Sunday said that over 500 students and other community members in Wuhan, and in other parts of China, are all safe.
China has expanded drastic travel restrictions to contain the viral contagion that has killed 56 people and infected nearly 2,000, as the United States and France prepared to evacuate their citizens from a quarantined city at the outbreak’s epicentre.
China has locked down the hard-hit province of Hubei in the country’s centre in an unprecedented operation affecting tens of millions of people to slow the spread of a respiratory illness that President Xi Jinping said posed a “grave” threat.
“This ministry and the Pakistan Embassy in China are actively monitoring the situation of Corona virus outbreak in Wuhan, China. The Embassy in Beijing and other sub-Missions in China are also in touch with the Pakistani community as well as Chinese authorities,” FO spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said in a statement.
“Over 500 students and other community members in Wuhan, and in other parts of China, are safe. There is no report of infection in any Pakistani community member thus far.” The statement said that the Pakistani diaspora has been reassured of full support and requested to follow health protocols issued by the Chinese authorities and stay indoors. “The current situation calls for greater patience and perseverance,” it added.
Noting the increase in the number of cases and its human-to-human transmission, the Ministry of Health of China has put additional measures to reduce the risks associated with the viral infection.
