Govt to brief parents of Pakistani students stranded in China on Feb 19

Move comes after IHC directed FO to arrange meeting of parents with overseas pakistanis ministry

ISLAMABAD: In light of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development will brief parents of students stranded in China on February 19.

The briefing will be attended by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Zulfiqar Bukhari and Federal Minister of Health Dr Zafar Mirza at the OPF Girls College in Islamabad.

During the session, the parents will be updated on the sitution and measures taken by the government to safeguard Pakistani students in China.

IHC orders govt to appoint focal person for Pakistani students stranded in virus-hit China

The move comes after the Islamabad High Court directed the Foreign Office officials to arrange a meeting of the parents with special assistant to the prime minister on overseas Pakistanis.

IHC also ordered the federal government to appoint a focal person to facilitate the parents whose children are stranded in coronavirus-hit China and directed the foreign ministry officials to take urgent steps and devise a mechanism for providing parents updates about their children till next February 21.

IHC orders govt to appoint focal person for Pakistani students stranded in virus-hit China

Virus outbreak

According to official figures, there are 500 to 800 registered Pakistanis studying in various universities of Wuhan – the city of 11 million people which has been quarantined by the Chinese authorities in an effort to stem the spread of the deadly virus.

On Thursday, Mirza confirmed that four Pakistani students who had contracted coronavirus – officially named COVID-19 – have fully recovered. The minister added that the students have been discharged from medical facilities.

Global concern remains high about the spread of the virus, which first emerged in China’s central Hubei province in December, with the first death outside Asia reported in France this weekend.

The death toll jumped to 1,665 in mainland China on Sunday after 142 more people died from the virus. More than 68,000 people have now been infected – but the number of new cases of the COVID-19 strain continued to decline.

Chinese authorities have placed some 56 million people in Hubei and its capital Wuhan under quarantine, virtually sealing off the province from the rest of the country in an unprecedented effort to contain the virus.

Local authorities around the country have introduced measures to try and stop the virus spreading.

Beijing’s municipal government has enacted a rule requiring all people coming to the capital to quarantine themselves for 14 days, warning that violators would be punished, according to official media.