EAM Jaishankar issues statement on coronavirus; 'Beijing Embassy constantly checking'

External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar has tweeted that the Indian Embassy in Beijing is constantly taking stock of the health of Indians in China and that any concerned citizen can check the Embassy's Twitter handle for updates, amid the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan spreading.

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Embassy in touch with citizens

The EAM's tweet comes after the Indian Embassy in Beijing tweeted that the authorities are in constant touch with the citizens and the student community. The Embassy also released two numbers that concerned citizens can dial for updates.

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The death toll increased to 56 in China and the government has shut down connections to more cities to prevent the spread of the virus. The outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus (nCOV) has caused widespread alarm and panic across the world. With its epicenter in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the virus has slowly spread across the globe with cases being reported in the US, Europe (in France), Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam.

Thirteen cities, in an effort to contain the virus, have issued a travel ban and now officials have reported that Wuhan will be restricting car traffic from Sunday. As of Saturday, Chinese officials have placed a ban on 13 cities, out of which 12 are in Hubei Province. The ban has also restricted the travel of as many as 56 million people amid constant fears that transmission rate will accelerate due to increased travel during the Lunar New Year.  

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The Coronavirus is a new strain in the large family of coronaviruses (CoV) which was previously not identified in humans. CoV causes illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).

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The Indian government has asked individuals with travel history to China since January 1 this year to voluntarily report themselves to authorities if they experience symptoms related to the deadly novel coronavirus (nCoV).