By Nelson Manneh
Ma Jianchun’s the Ambassador of The People’s Republic of China to The Gambia has on Monday the 17th February 2020 informed the media that the Government of China responsibly and carefully, has tried its best to prevent the coronavirus outbreak from spreading to other countries.
“Many of the measures taken to control the outbreak and prevent it from spreading went far beyond the requirements of the WHO, and are soon proven highly effective. It significantly curbed the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus) in China, and also made sure that infectious cases outside China’s border are as few as possible as of now, its number only accounts for less than 1% of all cases around the globe,” he said.
The Chinese press briefing that took place at the Embassy of The People’s Republic of China in The Gambia was designed to update the public on how China is handling the Coronavirus outbreak in Hubei province of China.
He said the coronavirus has been given a new name and that name is the COVID-19.
He said that in a thoughtful and considerate manner, they have been taking care of all people in affected areas, be they patients or non-patients, Chinese or foreigners.
“To prevent coronavirus from further spreading, from January 23 on, Wuhan began a temporary city-wide quarantine, and some other cities, mostly in Hubei province, later on, adopted similar measures at various levels of rigour according to how badly they were affected. In quarantined cities, sufficient food, clean water and daily necessities have been ensured to be always available to all people,” he said.
The Ambassador added that the Chinese government considers the health of foreigners, including Gambians, living in China, as equally important as that of Chinese citizens. Active measures have been taken to prevent them from infection, and enormous efforts have been made to meet their basic life needs during this trying period.
“Since the beginning of the outbreak, the Chinese government has been responsibly releasing information. China has been frequently and timely sharing the outbreak data and other technical information, including the earlier-mentioned genetic sequence of the coronavirus, with the WHO and other countries,” he said.
He added that they have also invited experts of the WHO and from regions outside of the Chinese mainland to visit Wuhan.
“In the past month, we have also been working closely with the Gambian government and its development partners to prevent the outbreak here, and to ensure the health of the Gambian people at home,” he noted.
The Ambassador said no Gambian national has been infected and the Gambian government is following the WHO’s advice, took proper preventive actions while staying away from any unnecessary trade and travel restriction.
He said that the media plays a crucial role in any major public event and the coronavirus outbreak is not an exception.
He urged the media to provide to the public accurate information and relevant knowledge about the coronavirus.
