Shawdesh Desk: Bangladesh Embassy in Beijing has said its officials are in regular contact with the Bangladeshi students living there to assist them following an outbreak of deadly Coronavirus.

“We already have spoken to some of the students at Hubei University in China,” Bangladesh Ambassador to China Mahbub Uz Zaman told UNB adding that the Bangladesh Embassy in Beijing opened a hotline number – + (86)-17801116005 for smooth communication round the clock.

The official death toll from the coronavirus in China jumped on Saturday rose to 41 from 26 a day earlier.
Besides, the Deputy Director of the Chinese Foreign Ministry who is the contact and liaison officer is regularly updating the Bangladesh Embassy in Beijing about the situation.

Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) and Head of Chancery (HOC) of Bangladesh Mission have also added themselves to Wuhan We Chat Group containing 245 students in Wuhan who have apparently been confined as a result of the outbreak of Coronavirus.

Due to Chinese New Year holidays, the Embassy said, most of the Bangladeshi students are on leave and have gone home for vacation.

The Mission is regularly updating the Foreign and Health Ministries here on the situation.

Meanwhile, some Bangladeshi students currently staying in Wuhan province in China have made a humanitarian appeal to the Bangladesh authorities to save them from the crisis created after the outbreak of Coronavirus that has already claimed over 40 lives.

On behalf of some students, Sajib Hossain, an Assistant Teacher at Yangtze University in Wuhan province, posted a letter on Facebook addressing the Foreign Ministry in which he sought assistance from the Bangladesh authorities.
Sajib said, “Wuhan city remained shut for the last three days. No car is moving in the town. No food and masks are arriving.”

China’s holiday began in the shadow of a worrying new virus Saturday as the death toll surpassed 40, an unprecedented lockdown kept 36 million people from traveling and authorities canceled a host of Lunar New Year events, reports AP.

The China National Health Commission reported a jump in the number of people infected with the virus to 1,287 with 41 deaths. The latest tally comes from 29 provinces across China, including 237 patients in serious condition. All 41 deaths have been in China, including 39 in Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, one in Hebei and one in Heilongjiang.

He wrote,” We cannot go out outside, we have been suffering from food crisis for the last one week and this situation will continue.”

“Over 500 Bangladeshi students are living here. We don’t know what will happen to us. Pray for us,” he added.

They provided mobile numbers bellow their names as—Sajib Hossain +86-155272131514, Naeem Hasan+86-18602736396, Reza Sultanuzzaman +86-13129915142.