China appreciates Pakistan’s support to battle against coronavirus

BEIJING (Web Desk) – China has appreciated for the Pakistani Senate’s resolution that showed full solidarity and support to China’s battle with the novel coronavirus outbreak. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said in Beijing on Tuesday, the resolution expressed its appreciation to China for having treated Pakistani citizens, especially students in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, with protection and comfort. He said China stands ready to strengthen cooperation with Pakistan and other members of the international community to combat the epidemic. He also said China will enhance communication and coordination with Pakistan and do its best to ensure the health and safety of Pakistani nationals in China with a highly responsible attitude. Companies struggled to get back to work after an extended Lunar New Year holiday, while hundreds of Chinese firms said they would need loans running into billions of dollars to stay afloat. Layoffs also began, despite assurances by President Xi Jinping that widespread sackings would be avoided. The government’s top medical adviser on the outbreak, Zhong Nanshan, held out hope that the epidemic may peak in February and then plateau before easing. “The peak time may be reached at the … middle or late this month,” Zhong, an epidemiologist who won fame for his role in combating an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2003, told Reuters in an interview. The number of new cases was already declining in some provinces, he added. The National Health Commission said earlier another 108 people had died on Tuesday, a daily record, taking to 1,016 the total of those killed in China. All but five of the deaths were in the central province of Hubei, the epicentre of the outbreak. There were 2,478 new confirmed cases on the mainland by Monday, down from 3,062 the previous day, bringing the total to 42,638. It was the second time in two weeks that authorities recorded a daily drop in new cases. Asian stock markets rallied as investors took comfort from the lower figures, even though some experts have warned it is too early to assume they represent a trend. Underlining the danger, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the outbreak was very much an emergency for China but also posed a “very grave threat for the rest of the world”. He was speaking at the opening of a two-day meeting of 400 researchers in Geneva aimed at stepping up research into diagnostics, drugs and vaccines.