Toll from coronavirus in China mounts to 213

BEIJING: A virus similar to the SARS pathogen has killed 213 people and spread around the world since emerging in a market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

On Friday, China’s National Health Commission said nearly 10,000 people have been infected by the novel coronavirus. Outside mainland China, there have been more than 100 infections reported. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared an international emergency over the outbreak. As of Friday, around 9,700 people have been infected across China, the majority in and around Wuhan. Most of the 213 who have died were in that region, but officials have confirmed multiple deaths elsewhere, including in the capital Beijing.

Several countries continued to evacuate their citizens from China through special planes, international media reported. Nine patients have now been confirmed in Australia. Most of them arrived in the country from Wuhan or Hubei province.

Cambodia´s health ministry reported the country´s first case of the virus on Monday, a 60-year-old man who arrived from Wuhan and is now stable.

In Hong Kong, 13 people are known to have the disease. Of those, about half arrived via a newly built high-speed train terminal that connects the city to the Chinese mainland.

Officials confirmed the first case in Kerala, southern India, on Thursday. The woman, a student at Wuhan University, is stable and in isolation at a hospital.

As of Thursday, Japanese health authorities said they had registered 14 cases, including two cases of human-to-human transmission. The driver and tour guide of a bus carrying visitors from Wuhan were both infected despite not having recently visited China.

Macau, a gambling hub hugely popular with Chinese mainland tourists, had confirmed seven cases as of Tuesday.

Malaysia confirmed a new case Thursday, bringing the total to eight. All are Chinese nationals, according to the health ministry.

Nepal said a 32-year-old man arriving from Wuhan had the disease. He was initially quarantined, but recovered and was discharged.

The Philippines reported its first case of the virus on Thursday, a 38-year-old woman who arrived from Wuhan and is no longer showing symptoms. She came to the Philippines on January 21, sought medical help four days later and was admitted to hospital for testing.

Singapore announced three new cases on Friday, bringing its total to 16. Among these are a 47 year old Singaporean woman evacuated from Wuhan on Thursday -- the first Singaporean to be confirmed infected.

South Korea on Friday confirmed four more cases of the deadly SARS-like virus, bringing the total in the country to 11. Five of the cases had travelled from Wuhan, Seoul authorities said. But one of the newly confirmed individuals was diagnosed after being in contact with the nation´s third confirmed patient, they added.

Sri Lanka confirmed its first case on Monday -- a 43-year-old Chinese tourist from Hubei province.

Taiwan has uncovered eight cases so far, including two female Chinese nationals in their 70s who arrived in the country as part of a tour group.

Thailand has announced 14 confirmed infections -- the highest number outside China.

Hanoi confirmed three new cases of the virus on Thursday, all Vietnamese citizens who had returned from the Chinese city of Wuhan, raising the overall number reported to five.

Canada has confirmed two cases so far, and is calling a third case "presumptive", meaning officials are awaiting final confirmation of the results from a national laboratory.

The United States has confirmed six cases, including the first human-to-human transmission on US soil from a woman to her husband in Chicago. There are two cases in California, two in Illinois, one in Arizona and one in Washington state.

British health officials on Friday announced that two people had tested positive for the virus, the country´s first confirmed cases. Authorities said they were "working rapidly to identify any contacts the patients had, to prevent further spread".

In Finland, a tourist from Wuhan tested positive for the virus on Wednesday and was being treated in isolation in hospital, officials said. There are six known cases in France, the first European country to be affected.

Germany now has five confirmed cases, including the first of human-to-human transmission on European soil -- a 33-year-old man who fell ill after attending a training session hosted by a visiting Chinese colleague. All five patients are in isolation in a Munich hospital.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced the first two cases in his country on Thursday -- two Chinese tourists who recently arrived in Italy.

Russia said Friday two Chinese citizens had tested positive in the country´s first cases.

Sweden on Friday announced its first case, a woman whose nationality has not been revealed.

The UAE health officials said a Chinese family of four had all tested positive for the virus after arriving from Wuhan several days ago.

Meanwhile, Beijing sharply criticised the United States for warning American citizens to avoid China and for urging those already there to leave due to the coronavirus health emergency.

"Certain US officials’ words and actions are neither factual nor appropriate," China’s foreign affairs ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said in a statement.

"Just as the WHO recommended against travel restrictions, the US rushed to go in the opposite way. Certainly not a gesture of goodwill."

Meanwhile, the senators on both sides of the aisle expressed concern over the fate of stranded Pakistanis, particularly students, and called for a proactive approach to deal with the situation, including their immediate evacuation from China.

The government as well as Special Assistant to PM on Health Dr Zafar Mirza came under scathing criticism from the joint opposition senators, who questioned how the stranded Pakistani students could be barred from returning home while India, Bangladesh and other countries had already begun evacuation of their citizens.

A day earlier, Dr Zafar Mirza announced that the government had decided not to repatriate Pakistani citizens stranded in China in accordance with the recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO). Senators claimed this announcement had multiplied concerns of families of the stranded Pakistanis.

On a point of public importance, the matter was raised by PkMAP Senator Usman Khan Kakar in the House and afterwards, it turned out to be a heated debate, as the opposition senators called for bringing back Pakistani students stuck in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus.

He said that the virus had been spreading fast in other countries while there were some 28,000 Pakistanis, including 10,000 students and they faced a curfew-like situation in Wuhan with markets, institutions and airports shut. He added the special assistant had announced not to let them return as to what kind of the federal cabinet was alleging the decision was like an act of murder.

Senator Kakar pointed out while Chinese were coming to Pakistan, Pakistanis had been barred from returning to their motherland and insisted that Pakistanis coming back could be quarantined and subjected to scanning.

PTI Senator Nauman Wazir Khattak described the situation very serious and cautioned that it could have very serious repercussions for Pakistan and that it was being taken casually. A joint task force, he emphasised, should look into the situation, adding the prime minister had written a letter to the provinces and the ministries of Health, Aviation and Tourism were being involved and a related report would be presented within a week to him.

He called for ample availability of diagnostic kits, which gave result within three hours and there quarantines be established and added the government should provide the best possible treatment, if former prime minister could go abroad for treatment, why not our stranded students be treated in the best possible way on the government expense.

Leader of Opposition Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq said that the eruption of coronavirus was an international emergency and China could not be blamed for it, being itself a victim of it. “Each country should take responsibility of its citizens while other countries are evacuating their citizens through chartered planes, our students have sent out messages of facing pain. The government must rectify itself on this matter,” he said.

PML-N parliamentary leader Mushahidullah Khan called coronavirus an epidemic and a global catastrophe and emphasised that the foreign minister and the health ministry should take action immediately while there is a large Pakistani embassy in China but none appears to be active in the given situation.

He pointed that other countries were evacuating their citizens from China but so for the government had not adopted any precautionary measures, saying whenever there was a problem, they just tried to get rid of it. Their (stranded students in China) mothers are crying and we have abandoned them," he lamented while advocating a proactive role.

PTI Senator Mohsin Aziz sided with the views of the opposition and stated that students, who showed no signs of the virus, should be allowed to enter the country while those that were sick should be quarantined. He called for designating airport(s) for this purpose. “Stranded students should not be left helpless there,” he said.

PTI Senator Seemi Ezdi explained that it was in the best interest of the Pakistanis in China to stay there, as they had better access to health facilities and were also trying to come up with a treatment for the virus. “We cannot treat this virus. The government's decision is in the best interest of the Pakistani citizens. While Pakistani embassy is also proactively extending services to Pakistanis,” she noted.

PPP parliamentary leader Senator Sherry Rehman rose to acknowledge China’s ever-lasting support and cooperation to Pakistan and said that Pakistan had expressed solidarity with the Chinese government. However, she urged the government to take precautionary steps. "Protecting citizens is the prime responsibility of any country. The government should order kits for diagnosing coronavirus as the screening at airports is not helping us to diagnose cases," she noted.

“Painful messages are coming from Pakistani students in China. The government should give courage to people that measures are being taken. But without screening people are coming to Pakistan while screening machines are out of order at airports,” she said. It was sad to know that the government had announced not to let people return to Pakistan from China while planes were taking off from there to respective destinations, evacuating citizens.

Leader of the House Syed Shibli Faraz informed the House that $840 had been transferred to the accounts of each student in China and added the government was in contact with the Chinese government and constantly monitoring the situation. “No doubt, a predicament has hit the brotherly country, which is our trustworthy and time-tested friend. We want to express solidarity with them on behalf of the government and people of Pakistan,” he said.

Senator Shibli added that Pakistani embassy was working round the clock to coordinate and assist the Pakistani citizens and said that the government was taking all the necessary steps in view of the evolving situation. He also clarified that it was not the definite decision not to let Pakistanis come back and added the government of China was also taking care of them.

Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani said that China had assisted Pakistan through thick and thin. "We should encourage China during this difficult time and show solidarity with them," he said and added that if Pakistani doctors wished to go to China to assist in efforts to tackle coronavirus, they should contact the Senate Health Committee or the Senate of Pakistan.

PPP Senator A Rehman Malik criticized the government for its decision not to bring back Pakistani students stranded in China and he urged the government to bring back Pakistani students stuck in the different cities of China, as they were appealing for their early rescue to their country.

He said that the spread of the virus in China had created chaos and scare throughout the world and Pakistani citizens were equally at risk, adding that many Pakistani students stranded in China had contacted him and received many messages from the parents of the students demanding for the arrangements of safe return of their children at the earliest.

Senator Malik asked the Ministry of Interior to take up the issue with Chinese authorities for taking care of food, medicine and safety of the stranded Pakistani students.

JI Senators Sijraul Haq and Mushtaq Ahmad opposed the government decision of not allowing the stranded students to return and said that they were at great risk while staying there. They sympathised with China and wondered how the state (Pakistan) could be indifferent to its own citizens in China.