Indians in China being monitored for coronavirus, says S Jaishankar

The novel coronavirus (nCoV) has killed more than 50 people so far in China since its outbreak in December.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Sunday said that the Indian embassy in Beijing is “constantly checking on health and well-being of the Indians in China” where novel coronavirus (nCoV) has killed more than 50 people so far.

Workers from local disease control and prevention department in protective suits disinfect a residential area following the outbreak of a new coronavirus, in Ruichang, Jiangxi province, China. (REUTERS)

Over 250 Indian students stuck in Wuhan city in Hubei province. Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, and several other cities in the province are now under lockdown.

The Indian Embassy in Beijing has set up helplines for the students in Wuhan.

“Our Embassy in Beijing is constantly checking on the health and well-being of the Indians in China. Please follow @EOIBeijing for more updates on the situation,” Jaishankar tweeted.

On Saturday, India issued a travel advisory asking citizens to avoid all “non-essential travel” to China. The government has also set up a 24-hour helpline to answer queries about coronavirus (nCoV) as number of fatalities and infected people rose across the world. The government has also opened screening centres at various airports as a precautionary measure.

The West Bengal government has deployed health teams in all the three major entry points along the Indo-Nepal border in Darjeeling district from Sunday to screen people entering India after a Nepalese man tested positive for the virus in Kathmandu on his return from China.

According to an IANS report, Pakistan’s National Institute of Health (NIH) has said that four Chinese nationals have been hospitalised in Multan and Lahore for showing symptoms of the disease but there were no confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country.