Pakistan officials visit virus-struck Wuhan to meet Pakistani students

Media is spreading false information about the intensity of the virus, says Pakistani student in Wuhan

Officials from the Embassy of Pakistan in China visited virus-hit Wuhan on Tuesday and met the four Pakistani students who had contracted coronavirus in January.

The toll from China’s coronavirus epidemic jumped to 1,868 on Tuesday after 98 more people died. Nearly 72,500 people nationwide have been infected by the new COVID-19 strain of the virus, which first emerged in December before spiralling into a nationwide epidemic.

Chinese authorities allowed a two-member special task force from the Pakistan Embassy in Beijing to meet the students and obtain first-hand information regarding their health and recovery.

The task force will return to Beijing once the lockdown in Wuhan is lifted and the on-ground situation is stabilised.

The officials, Third Secretary Junaid and Education Attaché Suleman reached Wuhan on Monday and visited the university students today. They also met the administration to ensure precautionary measures were being taken to protect the students.

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“All the students in the universities visited today are safe, healthy and well looked after,” the statement by the Foreign Office read.

 



The Embassy of Pakistan has played a pivotal role in providing utmost facilitation to protect the students suffering from coronavirus.

They have taken a number of steps to provide assistance to the students, such as: establishing two 24-hour hotlines for the facilitation of Pakistani students in China and responding to queries of students via email.

An 11-member core group was also constituted to monitor the situation and respond to the requests of the Pakistani students, and a video conference was arranged with Health Minister Dr Zafar Mirza and SAPM for Overseas Pakistani’s Zulfi Bukhari.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi issued instructions to relevant authorities to ensure the safety of the Pakistani students in Hubei province and across China.



The Chinese government has reassured Pakistan that the students are as important as their own nationals, and took measures to provide basic amenities to the students – including food, water, regular medical checkups, spraying of disinfectant in students’ dormitories and residential localities.

The students were provided with protective masks and gloves and their body temperatures are monitored twice a day.

Students suffering from depression and stress were also provided psychological counselling.

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In a video message, two of the students thanked the local doctors, the Chinese government and the Pakistani consulate for supporting them emotionally and financially.

“I want to thank the Chinese doctors who took really good care of us in the hospital, for taking care of all our requirements and for supporting us. I want to thank the Chinese government and the Pakistani consulate for supporting us," a student said.

The student also said that the media is spreading false information about the intensity of the virus.



“I want to inform my Pakistani brothers that this virus is not as dangerous as the media has made it seem. The news is mostly fake.”

Hubei has been locked down to try to contain the virus, with tens of millions of people placed under effective quarantine in the province.

Chinese health officials have urged patients who recovered from the coronavirus to donate blood so that plasma can be extracted to treat others who are critically ill.

Plasma from patients who have recovered from a spell of pneumonia triggered by COVID-19 contains antibodies that can help reduce the virus load in critically ill patients, an official from the National Health Commission told a press briefing Monday.

More than 12,000 people have recovered and been discharged, according to health commission figures.