Beijing | Jagran News Desk: The death toll in China's alarmingly new coronavirus afflictions has climbed to 25 with confirmed cases rising sharply to 830, the Chinese health authorities said on Friday.
The pneumonia situation had resulted in 25 deaths, including 24 in central China's Hubei province and one in north China's Hebei, the National Health Commission said.
A total of 1,072 suspected cases have been reported in 20 provincial-level regions, according to the National Health Commission.
Twenty-five Indian students, 20 of who are from Kerala, are trapped in Wuhan after the Chinese city of 11 million was locked down to contain the spread of the virus. Meanwhile, 14 students interning at a hospital in Yichang -- about 300 km from Wuhan -- flew to Kolkata from Kunming Airport on Thursday night.
"Embassy of India has been receiving queries from Indians in Hubei province and their relatives in India in connection with Coronavirus epidemic in China.The Embassy is in touch with relevant Chinese authorities in Beijing and Wuhan and Indians in Hubei Province," said the Indian Embassy in Beijing.
"We are closely monitoring the evolving situation in China, including advisories issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) in this connection. The relevant Chinese authorities have assured all assistance to residents of Wuhan, including food supply. The Embassy has started two hotlines for those who wish to get in touch with the Embassy in this regard: +8618612083629 and +8618612083617," it added.
The Indian Embassy said that China has issued advisory to travellers from China, visiting India.
As the virus spread in the country and the world, China on Thursday locked down eight cities, including Wuhan, suspending all public transport in an unprecedented move to contain the coronavirus, dampening the celebrations of the Lunar New Year.
Eight cities in Hubei province -- Wuhan, Huanggang, Ezhou, Chibi, Xiantao, Qianjiang, Zhijiang and Lichuan -- are now subject to travel bans, according to notices released by local governments, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Friday.
Wuhan, the city of 11 million people where the virus is believed to have first emerged, has halted all transport.
According to the health commission in the northern Hebei province, which borders Beijing, an 80-year-old man diagnosed with the new virus died on January 22.
The victims' average age is 73, with 89 being the oldest and 48 youngest. So far 631 cases have been confirmed in 25 provincial-level regions in the country.
The deadly virus has originated from the city of Wuhan in the month of December and since then cases have been reported in the United States and several Asian cities other than China, including South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand.
To check further spread of the virus, Chinese authorities on Thursday put Wuhan city under lockdown.
Indian Embassy said that the Chinese authorities have assured all assistance to residents of Wuhan, including food supply.
"At present, it is reported that supermarkets (particularly those that are government run) and e-commerce services, including food delivery continue to remainoperational in Wuhan," said the embassy.
The authorities in Wuhan city have imposed a complete travel ban on local residents, in a bid to curb the spread of the deadly virus. The ban issued by command authority in the city said that from 10:00 am on Thursday, urban buses, subways, ferries and long-distance passenger transport would be suspended in the city. Flights and trains departing from Wuhan will also be suspended.
As the Coronavirus outbreak continues to spread from China to different parts of the world, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said that people coming from the Asian country will have to mandatorily go through a screening process at airports in India.
"Advisory has been issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and our consulates in China. People coming from China will have to go through the screening process (at airports)," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said at a weekly briefing here.