With around 100 students from Gujarat stuck in epidemic-hit China, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Monday sought the help of the Ministry of External Affairs for safe return of students including those in Wuhan, epicentre of the coronavirus which has gripped the Chinese city, claiming 80 persons and infecting hundreds.
Mr. Rupani urged External Affairs Minister Jaishankar to intervene after parents had sought help from the BJP government here for their safe return.
In a press statement issued here, the Gujarat government said 100 students mostly studying medicine from the State are stuck in China about which Mr. Rupani had spoken to Mr. Jaishankar on the phone. The Gujarat government was prompted into action after Vadodara resident Shashi Jaiman on Monday tweeted tagging Chief Minister informing that his 18-year-old daughter, studying medicine in Wuhan, was stuck there.
“My daughter Shreya Jaiman is studying in te Hubei University for MBBS in Wuhan city of China. There are nearly about 300 students of India in which 100 Gujarati who are stuck there due to coronavirus. Please take necessary steps to take them back to India. Vadodara (Guj),” he posted in a tweet tagging the Chief Minister.
In deep trouble
Mr. Jaiman told mediapersons in Vadodara, “My daughter told us she is not getting food and water since the last two days as markets and establishments have been shut down following the virus outbreak. She is in deep trouble and we have appealed to the government to intervene for their safe return.”
He claimed 20 students from Gujarat were studying in the university there and all were in a bad state due to the lockdown caused by the virus. The toll due to the virus rose to 81 with confirmed cases reaching 1,975 and 324 of them being critical, Chinese health authorities said in an official statement on Monday.
Coronavirus, officially described as 2019-nCoV, cases were first reported from Wuhan, the capital of central China’s Hubei province. A few cases have been found in other countries including South Korea, Japan, Thailand and the United States. The virus can cause fever, coughing, sneezing and pneumonia. It is a member of the coronavirus family that’s a close cousin to the deadly SARS and MERS viruses that have caused outbreaks from China in the past.
