KATHMANDU: Amid coronavirus outbreak, Nepali students studying in China are urging the Nepal government for evacuating their wards stuck in the Hubei province.
Parents of Nepali students residing in China are running from pillar to post and knocking the doors of government offices and ministries for the safe return of their family members.
“Where to go? Which is the designated high body? Please tell me when the evacuation will be done,” said Basanta Bhandari.
Likewise, Nepali students reading at Ming Chi university have appealed to the government to evaluate them from China. They appealed to the government by posting a video on social media.
Similarly, they said that they are living in quarantine and now getting problems in lodging and food and they are not infected with the novel virus and do not spread any disease to others.
Nepali Embassy in China had collected applications, processed it and published the names of applicants but the delay in evacuation and resilience has increased fear amongst parents.
“The Chinese government is not able to contain the virus. It is increasing day by day,” said Bhandari.
“Our Ministry alone is not capable, we don’t have that much capacity, we don’t have the aircraft, places to keep people,” said Mahendra Shrestha, one of the Spokesperson at the Ministry of Health and Population, Nepal.
As many as 180 Nepali students to be brought from coronavirus-hit China will be quarantined for 14 days.
“We only take responsibility for those who are infected. If some infected person comes then we will take care and those who come here from China will be tested for the virus,” said Shrestha.
Health Ministry of Nepal last Sunday had said that three or four days will be required to prepare the infrastructure for evacuees from China but no progress has been achieved so far.
World Health Organization (WHO) has already declared coronavirus as the global health epidemic. With the declaration, the Nepal government is under pressure to bring Nepali students from China.
Meanwhile, several countries including India, the United States, and Australia have evacuated their citizens from China.
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