- Chinese Ambassador in Pakistan Yao Jing talks about coronavirus
- Pakistani citizens in China are being treated as our own people
- We are lucky that so far there are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Pakistan
- Govt of Pakistan and Embassy of Pakistan in Beijing are in close contacts with Chinese Govt
- Flights between China and Pakistan suspended due to Spring Festival holidays
ISLAMABAD, February 2: President of China Xi Jinping and Premier are giving highest level of attention to the campaign against the coronavirus and they are personally monitoring the situation .We have less increasing of the confirmed cases and more cured cases. They are very indicative that the Chinese side or the Chinese medical experts are more and more in a position to cure the disease.
This is a sudden challenge. We totally understand the concerns of the media from the society especially from the Pakistani community in China. In this regard, your foreign ministry, your ministry of health and your embassy in Beijing have been in instant and immediate contacts with the Chinese government, local authorities and this embassy to look after the concern. We are lucky that so far there are no confirmed cases in Pakistan. There are 5 suspects in Pakistan which all are Chinese. After one week of observation, they have all been cleared from the medical wards. So we are lucky that so far there are no confirmed cases in Pakistan. So far the most popular estimation by the expert is that within this week, I mean next week we will see the peak, after this peak, they will be coming down. I can not give an accurate prediction.
The Chinese government announced the extension of the Spring festival holiday so that we have suspended some of the Chinese flights and PIA flights directly between Pakistan and China till today. We are monitoring and registering every Chinese citizen in Pakistan, particularly those come from Wuhan and the Hubei Province which are the centre of the affected area. All the Chinese community has adopted very strict self quarantine and isolation measures for at least 2 weeks, because the incubation period is 14 days. So far all the Chinese citizens in Pakistan, there is so far no confirmation and suspicious cases of this disease.
We do find 4 cases confirmed of Pakistani citizens in China, but they are not in Wuhan, they are in Guangzhou, Southern part of China. I can assure you that these 4 have been well attended and I heard this morning that their conditions are improved and very much hopeful that they will get released from hospital within days. All the Pakistani citizens in Wuhan, there is no confirmed cases or infection on them. We have a special assistant to look after Pakistani citizens, in particular the students.
For the Pakistanis and Pakistani citizens in China, they are equally important as the Chinese citizens. My suggestion is that first they follow the instructions of the local authorities where they are residing. For example, less movements, less contacts, avoid public events. There are some other public health measures, such as wearing the masks, having more hand washing. It’s better for all of them to keep calm and confident. The Chinese side has the richest experiences dealing this. Right now we are adopting more and more effective measures of medication and treatment
Your government made decision that there is no immediate evacuation of the Pakistani citizens from China. I think that this is very scientific and responsible. This kind of restrictions are is imposed in Wuhan, not all of China. Pakistani out of this province and city, I think, they are free for movements. But we don’t encourage for this as this is also the WHO advice for them.
