Omani students in Wuhan evacuated to avoid infection

Muscat: Omani students studying in the Chinese city of Wuhan -- the source of the Novel Coronavirus -- as well as other parts of the country have been evacuated back to the Sultanate, to prevent them from possible infection. Although no cases of the Coronavirus have been detected in Oman yet, the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the World Health Organization, continues to take steps for future prevention, as well as to spread awareness about the disease. In addition, the embassy of Oman in Beijing has called on all Omani students in China to get in touch with the embassy at the earliest, so that they too can be evacuated and returned home safely. According to the WHO, there are some 11,821 confirmed cases in China, of which more than 7,000 are in the Hubei province, the capital of which is Wuhan. “The Embassy of Sultanate of Oman in Beijing, has taken back the rest of the Omani students residing in the Chinese city of Wuhan to the Sultanate,” said a statement from the Oman News Agency, the country’s national news service. “The Embassy has also contacted all the students registered with them to check on them and ensure that they were evacuated and returned to the Sultanate.” With international airlines also cancelling flights to China to prevent possible spread of infection, Oman Air too has been liaising with the country’s Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA) for the latest updates on the virus. “Oman Air is closely monitoring the situation on the Novel Coronavirus outbreak,” said the Sultanate’s national carrier. “We are liaising with PACA, our airline regulator, and with health organisations. We are following their advice and directives. Oman Air recommends its valued guests to follow the carrier’s social media platforms for more updates on this.” 12 cases have been discovered in Australia and Korea, 17 in Japan, eight in Malaysia, six in Vietnam, two in the Russian Federation, one apiece in Cambodia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, India and Nepal. In the GCC, the UAE has reported four cases. In Europe, Germany (7) and France (6) have the highest number of cases, with two each in the UK and Italy, and one in Sweden, Finland and Spain. In North America, the Canadians have reported four cases, while the US has a further seven. To closely monitor and stay up-to-date with the latest developments and spread of the Coronavirus, the World Health Organization has launched a real-time global dashboard, which will be updated twice a day with the latest infection figures of the novel coronavirus, also known as nCoV. The move comes after the WHO’s Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, declared the ongoing Coronavirus situation to be a public health crisis at an international level. “We must support countries with weaker health systems,” he said, while explaining why he had made treating the novel coronavirus a cause for global concern. “There is no reason for measures that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade. We call on all countries to implement decisions that are evidence-based and consistent. WHO stands ready to provide advice to any country that is considering which measures to take. “We must remember that these are people, not numbers,” added Ghebreyesus. “More important than the declaration of a public health emergency are the committee’s recommendations for preventing the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus and ensuring a measured and evidence-based response. We are working diligently with national and international public health partners to bring this outbreak under control as fast as possible.” The Director General’s comments came after visiting China and meeting with Premier Xi Jinping, who shared with him what the country was doing to stem the spread of the virus. “To the people of China and to all of those around the world who have been affected by this outbreak, we want you to know that the world stands with you,” explained Ghebreyesus. ““Let me be clear: this declaration is not a vote of no-confidence in China. On the contrary, WHO continues to have confidence in China’s capacity to control the outbreak. Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems, and which are ill-prepared to deal with it. “The main reason for this declaration is not because of what is happening in #China, but because of what is happening in other countries,” he went on to say. “For all of these reasons, I am declaring a public health emergency of international concern over the global outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus.”