China slams 'certain country' for imposing travel restrictions amid Coronavirus outbreak

In a recent phone call between Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, China not only advised to 'remain rational' but also indirectly slammed the United States. Jaishankar had called Wang on January 31 to thank the Chinese government for their cooperation in airlifting Indian students from Wuhan, which is identified as the epicentre of deadly Coronavirus outbreak. 

Wang reassured the MEA that they will 'surely win' the battle against the novel virus but he also indicated towards a 'certain country' which has turned 'blind eye' to the recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO). While declaring the 2019-nCoV outbreak as a global emergency, the WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had said that there was no need to limit travel and trade. 

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However, US Health Secretary Alex Azar declared a public health emergency and temporarily banned the entry of foreign nationals who had travelled to China in the past two weeks to contain the spread of the virus. In the recent update by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs China, Wang noted the 'travel ban by certain country' and called it an 'overreaction' which can further make things worse. Supposedly, according to China, America's way to deal with the unprecedented pandemic is 'not the right way'. 

US declares an emergency, imposes travel ban

Meanwhile, in White House press conference Azar further elaborated on the restrictions applied to people who have visited designated areas two weeks prior to the attempted entry. Currently, there have been at least seven confirmed cases of coronavirus in the US while it has claimed 259 lives with 11,791 confirmed cases in China. 

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"I have today declared that the coronavirus presents a public health emergency in the United States," said Azar during a briefing at the White House, adding the directives would take effect on February 2 from 5:00 pm eastern time. He further added, “Foreign nationals, other than the immediate family of US citizens and permanent residents, who have travelled in China within the last 14 days will be denied entry into the United States for this time.”

According to the WHO, the main reason for the coronavirus outbreak to be declared as a global emergency is not because of China, but due to the happenings of the world. The statement also praised the country for 'quickly identifying' the virus and shared its sequence to help other countries.  

“The main reason for this declaration is not what is happening in China, but what is happening in other countries," said the WHO chief, praising the "extraordinary measures" taken there by authorities. 

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(With PTI inputs)