180 Nepalis request to return home
Kathmandu: At least 180 Nepalis, mostly students, have approached the country’s Embassy in Beijing, asking it to evacuate them from Hubei province, where the deadly novel coronavirus outbreak originated.
The embassy in Beijing on Saturday issued a public notice, asking Nepalis in Hubei to fill out a form if they wish to return to Nepal, reports The Kathmandu Post.
“A total of 180 Nepali nationals, mostly students, currently living in 17 cities in China, including Wuhan of Hubei, have registered their names with the embassy, expressing their desire to return home,” Sushil Kumar Lamsal, deputy chief of mission at the Nepali Embassy in Beijing, told The Kathmandu Post on Sunday.
“Around 120 Nepalis from other Chinese provinces also want to return.” Officials in Kathmandu, however, are in a fix, as there is a lack of quarantine centres where every China returnee needs to spend 14 days, which is the incubation period. (IANS)
Bangladesh halts visa-on-arrival for Chinese nationals
Dhaka: Bangladesh has suspended its visa-on-arrival services for Chinese nationals amid the global emergency over the deadly coronavirus outbreak that has so far killed 361 people in China alone.
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen announced the development at a media briefing on Sunday, bdnews24 reported. The government has informed the Chinese Ambassador of the matter, said Momen. “We are requesting Chinese nationals in Bangladesh not to go on leave especially over the next month while the global emergency is in place,” he said. “At the same time, we have requested the authorities not to recruit any Chinese national for ongoing projects in Bangladesh.” But the move does not bar Chinese nationals from applying for a Bangladeshi visa, according to Momen. Bangladesh has not reported any coronavirus case till now. (IANS)
UK donates $26mn to speed up coronavirus vaccine
London: The UK government has donated 20 million pounds ($26 million) towards a break-neck plan to produce a vaccine to combat the deadly new coronavirus, which has till Monday claimed the lives of 361 people in China alone.
On Sunday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that government’s investment will go to CEPI – the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations – a global body aiming to fast-track the vaccine within six to eight months, reports the BBC.
But CEPI Chief Executive Richard Hatchett said such a tight timescale was “unprecedented”.
If the biologists are successful, more time would still be required to test the vaccine more widely and secure sign-off from medical regulators before it could be distributed across the world.
Pakistanis return from China as flights resume
Islamabad: Pakistanis stranded in China started arriving in Islamabad on Monday as the Imran Khan-led government resumed flight operations to the Asian giant where the deadly coronavirus outbreak has killed 361 people. Following the resumption of flights, two flights carrying Pakistanis arrived from China earlier in the day, a Dawn news report quoted Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza as saying.
On January 31, Pakistan had suspended flights to China, a day after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak as a global health emergency. (IANS)