By Adama Makasuba
Twenty Gambian citizens are trapped in the central China city of Wuhan where a deadly virus is wreaking havoc.
Nearly 8000 people have been infected with the virus and almost 200 victims have died so far. The virus has no known cure yet.
A Gambian student in Beijing told The Fatu Network they are living on a knife-edge as health officials visit them at their school every day to perform checks on them. Their food stocks also are fast running out because most of the shops are closing down, she added.
Ms Fatou Kinneh Jobe, the charge d’affairs of The Gambia embassy in Beijing has however told The Fatu Network said no Gambian living in china is confirmed to have contracted the deadly coronavirus.
“The Gambia Embassy in Beijing, China is in close contact with the Gambian student Union in China and the Gambian Association in Guangzhou and all Gambian citizens in China are advised to monitor the situation and take preventive measures.
“In Wuhan, Hubei Province, the epicentre of the disease, there are 20 Gambian students living there, but no Gambian citizen is infected with the virus in China,” Ms Jobe said.
According to her, the 5,974 confirmed coronavirus cases and 132 deaths have been reported on the Chinese mainland as of Tuesday midnight, adding about 2,300 medical workers from across the Chinese mainland arrived in Hubei province on Tuesday to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of the pneumonia disease caused by a novel coronavirus.
“The Gambia is confident in China’s ability to overcome this crisis,” she said.
