Evacuating Pakistani citizens from China against larger interest of region: Dr Zafar Mirza
Government respect the directions of the World Health Organisation: Dr. Zafar Mirza
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Special Assistant for Health Dr. Zafar Mirza said that not evacuating Pakistanis in China is in larger interest of Pakistan, region and the world.
While addressing a press conference, he said that whole world is worried about the virus and World Health Organization (WHO) has issued directions to 194 countries on the issue of coronavirus. So far, virus has spread to 15 countries, 7831 people have contracted the disease and 170 people lost their lives.
Dr. Zafar Mirza said that condition of four Pakistani students in China who contracted the disease is improving and there is not a single person who contracted the virus in Pakistan.
He added that WHO has advised all countries against evacuating its nationals from China, and outbreak can spread if government of Pakistan acts irresponsibly and evacuates Pakistanis.
Dr Zafar Mirza said the Pakistani embassy in China was providing the government with information about its citizen in Wuhan. He said that it was in the "larger interest of the region" to not evacuate Pakistanis who were stranded in Wuhan and at risk of contracting the coronavirus.
Dr Mirza said that the government of Pakistan stands with its Chinese counterpart and would respect the directions of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Beijing. He said that the government believes that China’s policies to contain the virus were adequate.
He informed the media that there are 28,000 to 30,000 Pakistanis in China. The reason behind the confusion is that not all Pakistanis are registered on website of Pakistan’s embassy in China .He urged Pakistanis stranded in China to register themselves on the website.
