New Delhi: Amid the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus in China, which has put the country on a complete lock down, 39 Indians are reportedly stuck in Wuhan. Chinese authorities have put a hold on all mobility in Wuhan to contain the virus that has already claimed 25 lives, while 830 persons continue to battle it across the country.
There are total of 25 trapped students in Wuhan, of which 20 are reportedly from Kerala. In addition, 14 more students are stuck in Yichang city, around 300 km from Wuhan, where they were interning at a hospital, according a report in the Times of India. The medical students had planned to fly to Kolkata from Kunming airport this week.
The new virus has caused alarm because of its similarity to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which killed nearly 650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.
The Indian embassy in Beijing, in a statement, said that they are “closely monitoring the situation in China, including advisories issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) in this connection.”
“The relevant Chinese authorities have assured all assistance to residents of Wuhan, including food supply,” it added.
The World Health Organization on Thursday stopped short of declaring a so-called a public health emergency of international concern -- declaration used for the gravest epidemics.
"This is an emergency in China, but it has not yet become a global health emergency," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva.
Meanwhile, the Republic Day ceremony at the Indian embassy in China stands cancelled due to the outbreak.
Comments
0 comment