-Confirmed cases on decrease and cured cases on increase
-Government of Pakistan and Embassy of Pakistan in Beijing in constant contact with China
-No confirmed cases in Pakistan All suspected cases in Pakistan cleared
By Ajmal Khan Yousafzai
President of China Xi Jinping and Premier Le Keqiang are giving highest level of attention to the campaign against the Coronavirus and they are personally monitoring the situation, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan, Yao Jing, said in an interview. “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”, he further said.
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 they are no confirmed cases in Pakistan. They 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 cannot give accurate predictions.
Every Chinese in Pakistan is receiving strict monitoring and self-quarantine for 2 weeks. No Chinese in Pakistan are infected. So far 4 Pakistanis have confirmed cases in China and they are well attended and would be cured within days. 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 center 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.
Pakistani citizens are being treated as our own people. China has the richest experience dealing with virus. Decision not to evacuate Pakistanis from China is scientific and responsible.The Pakistani students or the Pakistani citizens we are looking after them just as our own people, just as our own kids. Our tradition is that we treat our guests better than our own people. So please to be assured that maximum care and attendance were given to the Pakistani community in China 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, fewer 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 in dealing with 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. These kinds of restrictions are imposed in Wuhan, not all of China. Pakistani out of this province and city, I think, they are free to move anywhere in China but we don’t encourage for this as this is also the WHO advice for them.