Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming on Thursday suggested all to remain alert but not to create any panic saying no Chinese national in Bangladesh and no Bangladesh national in China is infected by coronavirus.
"Let general people be alert but don't create panic," he said urging all to avoid spreading rumours.
The Ambassador made the remarks while briefing a small group of journalists at the Embassy. Deputy Chief of Mission Hualong Yan, was, among others, present.
He said no one of them in Chinese Embassy and no Chinese national working in Bangladesh development projects is infected by coronavirus.
At the same time, he said, no Bangladesh citizen living in entire China is infected.
The Ambassador expressed displeasure due to what he said for "overreaction" from countries like the USA and Australia on the situation.
As of now, 25 countries have reported confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, including China, where 24,363 people had contracted the virus, or over 99% of all cases, according to WHO.
In all other countries, 191 cases have contracted the virus.
To fight further spread of the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak in China and globally, and protect states with weaker health systems, the international community has launched a US$675 million preparedness and response plan covering the months of February through to April 2020.
“My biggest worry is that there are countries today who do not have the systems in place to detect people who have contracted with the virus, even if it were to emerge,” said DrTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
“Urgent support is needed to bolster weak health systems to detect, diagnose and care for people with the virus, to prevent further human to human transmission and protect health workers.”
The Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP) for the new coronavirus lays out activities and resources needed by international health organizations globally, including WHO, to implement priority public health measures in support of countries to prepare and respond to nCoV-2019 for a period February-April 2020.
The objectives of the plan are to limit human-to-human transmission of the virus, particularly in countries most vulnerable if they were to face an outbreak; identify, isolate and care for patients early; communicate critical risk and event information; minimize social and economic impact; reduce virus spread from animal sources; and address crucial unknowns.
The plan focuses on rapidly establishing international coordination and operational support; scaling up country readiness and response operations; and accelerating priority research and innovation.
“The effectiveness of outbreak response depends on the preparedness measures put in place before outbreaks strike,” said Dr Mike Ryan, head of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme.
As noted in the SPRP, WHO assesses that the outbreak poses a very high risk in China, and high risk regionally and globally.
The risk assessment was based on factors including the likelihood of further spread, the potential impact on human health, and the varying levels of effectiveness in national preparedness and response measures.
Accelerated action, as called for in the plan, can address these risks and areas requiring support, reports UNB.
