Tajik students studying in Chinese city of Chengdu have gathered money for Tajik students studying in the Chinese city of Wuhan, who are forced to buy protective masks at the price equivalent to 70.00 somoni.
Representatives of the Foreign Ministry say the Tajik Embassy in Beijing is providing assistance to Tajik nationals staying in China, while Tajik students studying in China say employees of the Embassy do not reply to their queries.
The Tajik MFA information department says the Embassy is in constant contact with Tajik nationals staying in Chine, especially with those who are in Wuhan.
According to data from the Tajik Embassy in Beijing, 46 Tajik students are currently in Wuhan. The part of them has reportedly arrived in Wuhan from other Chinese cities. Our Embassy is in contact with the law enforcement authorities and representatives of China’s universities. The Embassy also published contacts of the responsible persons on its website. No Tajiks were reported among those infected with 2019-nCOV, according to the Tajik MFA information department.
Tajik student studying in Wuhan Ahmadjon (name changed at his request – Asia-Plus), says no kind of transport now works in the city. He himself does not go out as the city is quarantined.
According to him, the Tajik Embassy in Beijing has set up a joint group in messenger (WeChat) . “We have sent them our names and contacts but they have not yet replied,” Ahmadjon said.
Another Tajik student, who studies in the Chinese city of Chengdu and introduced himself as Mohammad, says seven people in Chengdu contracted 2019-nCOV on January 26 and yesterday the number of those infected with 2019-nCOV rose to 26. “We are scared,” he said.
According to him, a protective mask, previously 1.00 somoni in terms of our money, now costs 50 yuans (equivalent to nearly 70.00 somoni). “We have to change the protective masks every hour and a half,” Mohammad said.
Meanwhile, citing Chinese authorities, the BBC says the death toll from the new coronavirus now stands at 106, as cases of new infections have almost doubled in a day.
The number of total confirmed cases in China reportedly rose to 4,515 as of 27 January, up from 2,835 a day earlier.
Travel restrictions have been tightened and wearing masks in public is now mandatory in some cities.
The city of Wuhan is at the epicenter of the outbreak but it has spread across China and internationally.
Wuhan, and the Hubei province it is located in, are already effectively in a lockdown with transport restrictions in and out of the area.
